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| Image courtesy: Pixabay |
If I said that day-to-day life here in Bengaluru, and in the rest of India has returned to pre-Covid levels, it would not be an exaggeration at all.
People are all over place. Buses and metro are running packed. The traffic congestion is back. Commuting is taking time.
The cap the government had imposed on the number of passengers domestic airlines could carry has been removed.
Schools, colleges and offices have reopened though all students and employees are not on the premises.
THE DIFFERENCE
Prior to 2020 there was no face mask, now there is.
This is not the first time since Covid struck that people have streamed out on to the streets.
What we are seeing now is very similar to what we saw late last year, when cases began to drop after the first wave.
But back then no one was vaccinated. Now over 75% have got at least one dose.
FIRST WAVE
Let's rewind and see how Covid cases rose and fell in India.
In the first wave, India recorded the highest number of new daily cases on September 17 last year. That was 97,570.
Around six months later, it dipped to the lowest of 8,635 on February 2 this year.
Then it began to climb steadily.
SECOND WAVE
Soon we realised that we were in the midst of the 2nd wave triggered by a new variant of the virus found first in India and which was later named Delta.
The 100,000 new daily cases mark was crossed on April 7.
A week later, the 200,000 mark was crossed on April 15.
Another week later, the 300,000 mark was crossed on April 22.
About a week later, the 400,000 mark was crossed on May 1.
On May 7, the number peaked at 414,188 new cases.
Today, it's about six months since that day, and the figure is 14,306 new cases. That's a sharp fall in a little over five months.
The numbers are expected to drop further.
Though alongside, there is a fear that cases would rise because the crowds are back, most health experts say the spread of the infection would not be as severe as before.
EVERYONE'S GETTING JABBED
The hope -- that we might not see those horrendous days of March-April-May again -- is riding on the breakneck pace at which people are being vaccinated.
In India, there are three vaccines, and seven vaccine manufacturers.
About 80% of the vaccines are Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and manufactured by Serum Institute of India, which incidentally is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer going by the number of doses produced and sold globally which is more than 1.5 billion doses.
The second one is Covaxin that has been indigenously developed, by Bharat Biotech.
The third vaccine is Russia's Sputnik V which is being supplied in India by two companies Dr. Reddy’s Lab and Panacea Biotec.
Other than these four companies, there are three more who are in various stages of developing a vaccine.
One is Zydus Cadila. They have got the drug regulator’s approval for conducting the 3rd phase trial of their two-dose vaccine called ZyCoV-D.
Biological E Ltd is developing a vaccine called Corbevax, and Gennova Biopharmaceutical are conducting trials of its vaccine.
Besides the three vaccines, the government has given approval for emergency use to two American vaccines, that of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
ONE-BILLION DOSES IN 278 DAYS
On October 21, India recorded a statistical achievement of having administered one billion doses. This figure was achieved in 278 days.
India rolled out its vaccination programme on January 16 this year. Though this averages out to around million doses a day, currently the pace is much faster, over 5 million doses a day.
Out of the around 940 million adult population in India, 75% have got at least one dose, and 30% are fully vaccinated.
HIGH HOPES
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hoping that by the end of the year, the entire adult population would be fully vaccinated. That's quite an ambitious target. Many think it's impossible.
But others feel it's not impossible, may be we might overshoot the deadline by a few months.
The cause for optimism is the fact that the two manufacturers Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech have scaled up production considerably, and we will have more vaccines available soon.
WHY THERE IS NO VACCINE HESITANCY
What is really driving the high pace is the willingness of people to get themselves vaccinated. There is very minimal vaccine hesitancy in India.
If at all people aren't getting vaccinated, it's because of laziness and lethargy rather than any ideology or beliefs.
So, if India is now really turning a corner, a lot of credit has to go to the average Indian as well, besides of course the healthcare professionals.
I can see two reasons why India is doing very well on the vaccine front. One, we have a very robust immunization programme.
Every child is mandatorily vaccinated at regular intervals against a host of diseases, like tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella (German measles) etc.
So, vaccination is nothing new for an Indian.
The second reason could be that all are desperate to get back to their normal routine. If vaccination is what it takes, "we are all ready!"
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteAny good news has to be taken as a positive. Sadly here it is now being found that folk with double vacc are still getting infected and dying. There's a new strain, too.
Yours news is good, there is no denying... may it remain so... YAM xx
Hi Yamini - Here too many double vaccinated people have contracted Covid. Example my brother-in-law. But the cases are mild. He actually even worked from home at that time. He recovered completely in 10 days.
DeleteYay! Congrats. It's nice to be in a space where people aren't hoodwinked into believing the vaccines are something to be feared. Alas, where I'm at, people are stupid. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteHi Liz, thanks. :-) While that's true about vaccines, we are just keeping our fingers crossed. Hopefully there aren't any new strains making a mess of all that we have achieved.
DeleteTrue, people have emerged out of the cage of unwillingness for vaccine. May there be no third wave. If at all one is there, the severity won't be that severe. Nice information.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarala - Hopefully, things will be okay. Thanks.
DeleteHi Pradeep - yes it's always amazed me that we get vaccinated all our life from early on to whenever we have to go to hospital, have a baby etc or the dentist even. It's good to read you're all happily going along to get jabbed and then wanting to return to normal asap.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope we can get through this pandemic disaster within the next few years - all over the world. The scientists have been amazing.
I do wonder why people cause so many problems for us ... we now have other things happening - climate activists disrupting the roads, now animal rights activists are doing the same. I do wish they'd think. All the best to us all - cheers Hilary
Hi Hilary- Hopefully, the vaccines will be good enough against the new strains that are now emerging.
DeleteYes, climate, animals, ecology, etc ... so many issues.
Problems need solutions. Not another set of problems.
Hopefully better sense will prevail all around.
Hi Pradeep - with the covid numbers that India has experienced, I'm not surprised that the vaccine uptake has been so strong. Hesitancy in Australia has been due in part to the low numbers of covid cases (especially here in Western Australia). Our govt is starting to mandate vaccination to keep your job - a scary upscaling of the govt's rights taking over the individual's rights. The world is changing rapidly and I just hope we get the balance right. I'm glad things are returning to normal where you are.
ReplyDeleteThings are better now, but people around here are still cautious. I see facemasks almost everywhere which was not the case when the first wave waned. Little by little we are returning to normalcy.
ReplyDeleteDestination Infinity
Hi Rajesh - Better to not let the guard down. We are still not in safe territory.
DeleteThat is an impressive amount of vaccinated people. Of course, I'm saying this from a country where people scream about their rights being infringed if they have to wear a mask.
ReplyDeleteVery good news for India. However, looks like wearing a face mask will become a way of life in future throughout the world.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that so many people are going out of their way to get the vaccines. I just wish people would be much more careful about their masks though.
ReplyDeleteHi Corinne - Yes. There is a fear that post-holidays the numbers might go up - hopefully not. Even if so, not in a big way.
DeleteI hope things continue to improve. And the lack of hesitancy about vaccinations is another indication of the Indian people.
ReplyDelete