Coronavirus Catastrophe: The Cookie Is Crumbling
Consider the sheer numbers of India and the task at hand
If you’ve been following news for a while, you’ll know the coronavirus catastrophe at hand. The cookie is crumbling, and not long from now, we’ll have to see what’s left of it. The world is on the brink of a ‘moral catastrophic failure,’ the WHO head mentioned a few months back. Our savior was the vaccination, and yet we are failing and making a mess of it. The rich are hoarding while the poor suffer like it’s something of an unwritten rule.
I didn’t plan to rant over this article to act like a terrified soul, but the situation is grave. Yes, the numbers are massive, but not enough.
More than 1.15 billion shots have now been administered worldwide as per Bloomberg data.
Let’s dive into some numbers here.
Total doses administered- 1.15 Billion
Daily rate- 21.1 Million doses per day
US & China total- 240+ million doses
India- 150 million shots
When considered globally, the numbers are glaringly massive. Even at the current pace of 21.1 million a day, it would still take years to achieve a significant level of global immunity.
The plus, however, is a steady increase of numbers and new vaccines by other manufacturers.
COVID-19 catastrophe and India
India is struggling and how. Imagine calling someone and expecting to hear sad news, like it’s a norm. People have used makeshift pyres to cremate the bodies of their loved ones. There is a close one under the virus strain lying unconscious at home waiting.
Such gravity was a rarity in recent times. I can put a tab on hundred things that have gone wrong, but it won’t help. What stands out and glares directly into our eyes and tells us about our incompetency is complacency by the government and the people.
Consider the sheer numbers of India and the task at hand.
More than a billion people are living like a pack of cards. It’s like you fall from the sky above, and you will fall over a few more down below. You may miss ground or anything else, but not people. Our only savior was caution, as this over-population is a predicament for any country. We somehow got through 2020 with discipline, but this year we all let our guards down.
Partying, election rallies, social gatherings, and everything involving people happened freely. The CoV struck back and with a vengeance. The government and people are at equal blame. The complacency took its toll, and the pandemic is rampant now. While people are dying, the government and opposition were hot on their election campaigns involving massive gatherings.
Yes, India is struggling, and the situation needs attention. Everybody, including the government to the people last mile, is sharing responsibility. Avoid the print media and negative news spread for maintaining sanity.
Visuals of mass death are available everywhere over the internet, while social media has a field day with sad images and SOS for help and medical aid. Many of the reports and images are correct and are enough to shake your conscience.
Should we believe everything at our disposal?
The gossip mongers, anti-government lobby, and extremist religious groups are all in this together. It provides a golden opportunity to make an outright accusation on anything you set your eyes on and polarize a large section.
While it’s convenient to find faults in actions taken by governments and other organizations, it’s time we introspect too. Fake messages, images, and videos are creating an even greater mess.
Social media thrives with everything that plays on our vulnerabilities, and mindfulness is the way forward.
My message to internet gossipers and theorists:
If you desire to play an active part, then help and manage in whichever little ways possible. The world can do better with one less social media gossiper. Manage your surroundings rather than your account used for spewing venom sitting comfortably in your AC rooms.
Vaccination and how
Even with the daily vaccination numbers ranging from 1.5mn- 2mn plus, the country is only 11 percent of total vaccination. Vaccination shortage has also become an issue in some parts of the country.
There will be challenges and plenty. Imagine your school days when teachers gave up lining students, even after multiple efforts. The line never looked neat. The only difference being; here we talk about a billion people who are to be lined and schooled for vaccination.
India’s primary vaccine maker, the Serum Institute of India or SII, produces more doses than any other organization. Even then, SII is struggling to meet the domestic and global demands.
Though the numbers have come down, India gave out an impressive 4.5m doses on one day in early April and has already ramped up the vaccination program in May’21. People within the age group of 18–44 are now eligible for vaccination. If the logistics get sorted, numbers are bound to see a massive jump because this segment covers most of the Indian population.
The two primary vaccine manufacturers, SII and Bharat Biotech can produce approximately 90 million doses a month.
The government has promised $400m and $210m each to boost production. While this is an internal step to scale up numbers, India has also allowed imports of foreign vaccines by Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson. The results are unclear as none of these vaccine makers have applied for an emergency use license in India.
Even the Russian vaccine Sputnik V has approvals in place for emergency use in India now. There are plans for its “made in India” approval.
Apart from vaccination drives and information bulletins, the country is reeling under a shortage of COVID-19 related drugs and oxygen for patients.
Conclusion
The 21st-century pandemic shows no signs of abating. There have been many lethal diseases, but COVID-19 is the scourge forcing the world to take cognizance and collectively think on its feet. COVID-19 is chaotic, quickly diagnosed, but so deceptive that it appears to ridicule all norms and predictable cure.
India is a far less wealthy economy than the Western countries, but it also has the tools to rise from this crisis. We have a history of successful, large-scale vaccine programs for diseases like polio and tetanus, top scientists, highly skilled doctors, and a strong network of community health workers.
Even the countries with the most advanced healthcare research and the top scientists have essentially the same defenses as healthcare workers in less-developed countries.
The world follows similar protocols employing quarantine, lockdown, and masks as its first line of defense.
Let’s hope this goes soon, and the order gets back to normal.
We either sink, or we swim together.
Footnotes
Koshy,J. (2020, August 03). The COVID-19 Catastrophe: What’s Gone Wrong and How to Stop it Happening Again’ review: Taking on an impossible virus. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/the-covid-19-catastrophe-whats-gone-wrong-and-how-to-stop-it-happening-again-review-taking-on-an-impossible-virus/article32292844.ece
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/