The second wave of covid19 was catastrophic to India. In densely populated regions of the country, hospitals were running out of beds and ventilators. Long queues were formed in front of oxygen centres as there was an acute shortage of oxygen cylinders. As the lack of emergency medical treatment led to the death of thousands, the cremation spaces were crammed. In certain places, dead bodies were seen floating in rivers. The pandemic became such a disaster in certain places.
Reasons behind such a disaster
Several reasons account for such a disaster. The first one may be the misconception that the nation defeated the pandemic and is free of it. Soon after the lockdowns were relaxed, the Indian streets and public places once again became crowded. this helped the virus to spread once again. Authorities failed to sense the approach of the second wave and when they did, it was too late. Speaking of which, the second reason and perhaps the most pivotal one, was the failure on the part of the authorities or responsible institutions. mostly, of the governments.
Election rallies!
2020 was a critical year for India’s political parties. Elections were approaching in several states of the country. The election campaigns across the country were, as usual, all crowded. Even in certain states where covid regulations were strictly implemented till then, the election campaigns once again caused bigger crowds and naturally, helped covid 19 to spread once again, that too at a faster pace.
A more hurtful fact was that even though some responsible authorities identified the second wave and warned, the political parties ignored them. Even while India was witnessing more than 100,000 cases per day, election rallies (with thousands or hundreds of thousands) were organised across the country.
The failed vaccine diplomacy
The third thing is about India’s failed vaccine diplomacy. India is the leading vaccine producer in the world. But with no proper planning, India exported a huge share of the vaccines produced here. It is appreciable in certain aspects because India exported to many poor countries especially those in Africa (and vaccines were even given freely to some nations). But without much thoughts, India exported vaccine to rich nations which were storing millions of doses of it.
In 2020, India introduced the Athmanirbhar Bharath (meaning self-sufficient India) that aimed at making India self-sufficient in all aspects, including vaccine production. yes, India was the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. but the country mistook it as self-efficiency by ignoring its population size. when foreign vaccine makers (like of Pfizer) approached India saying that they can provide vaccine to India, India’s ruling body rejected their proposal stating that India is sufficient with vaccines.
The self-conceited nation then shipped millions of doses of locally made vaccines to other countries ignoring the fact that the country itself needed it the most. Now no sufficient vaccine is available to provide for its population of more than a billion.
Consequences
thousands lost their lives, hundreds of thousands lost their loved ones and millions lost their livelihood. Lockdown pushed lower-middle-class families to poverty and many had to spend their life savings for covid19 treatments.
fortunately, the situation is getting better these days as the number of new cases and deaths are decreasing. Hoping that the country will learn the lesson and thus prevents a deadly third wave.
