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It is imperative to avoid a second wave of Covid-19. It is entirely doable with determined, coordinated action, and must be achieved. This message resonated in Wednesday’s meeting of the Prime Minister with state chief ministers.
A year of restrictions and the fact that vaccines are finally available have resulted in a level of laxity when it comes to observing Covid protocols. The Prime Minister’s call to not let confidence become overconfidence is spot on. He did well to call for stepped up genetic profiling of the virus, to identify mutations, if any.
While rolling out vaccination is important, to prevent uncontrolled mutations in the wild, strict adherence to safety norms while that happens is vital. Stepping up vaccination will require better outreach to eligible population and ramping up production. Without the requisite vaccine production, opening up vaccination for all of the population would result in shortages, price gouging, as demand would likely outstrip supply, and chaos.
It is important to understand that no one is safe till everybody is protected. It is necessary to ensure increasing numbers of eligible population groups are getting vaccinated. Faster uptake of vaccines in the currently eligible groups will allow the government to open up the drive to newer segments of the population. Deviating from systematic vaccination roster is likely to result in groups of unvaccinated people. India should take a leaf from the Pulse Polio campaign to reach out to populations that are either unable to access the vaccine for reasons such as trouble with the CoWIN app or are vaccine-hesitant.
It is incumbent on central and state governments and local authorities to step up their outreach to address concerns relating to the vaccination, and to avoid vaccine wastage. India’s hard-won success with child immunisation should pave the way. For the time being, it is critical to ensure that Covid does not spread, particularly to remote areas, where the healthcare system does not have the capacity to deal with the severe infection.
Courtesy - The Economic Times.
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