Amid a scenario of utter hopelessness, some hope emerges in a nation that is set to become the world’s top Covid-19-infected landmass. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan stated on Sunday that the government aimed to provide some 25 crore people – one-fifth of the total population – the much-needed preventive vaccine by the middle of next year. This is how the vaccine scenario is shaping up; and this also means there is no easy escape from the pandemic.
Several vaccines are under trial at various stages, and the final outcomes would be out in another nine months’ time. Since India is an active player in the development of a vaccine, the nation can hope to have an added advantage, though big entities like the US, Russia, China, Israel etc are also hard at work.
India by now reported over 65 lakh Covid cases, keeping it at the world’s second worst-hit level next only to that of the US in terms of infections. A comfort is that some 55 lakh of those tested positive have responded to treatment and recovered; and the deaths are of the order of nearly a lakh. The recovery is of the order of 76,000 against the daily infection rate of 80,000; hence the recovery rate is about 84 per cent.
The entire nation is hit, but the worst-hit as of now are some 10 states and UTs, the worst among them being Maharashtra from the very start, as also Karnataka now. Unlock-5 has eased restrictions on the ongoing lockdown to a large extent. However, what cannot be lost sight of is the fact that the present Covid scenario is also a result of the easing of the lockdown to facilitate economic and public activities to a large extent. The movement of migrant labour added to the nation’s plight.
The death of a Union minister, the infection to Vice President Venakiah Naidu, and the scene from the US where President Donald Trump and his family members too falling victim to the pandemic meant that the virus is in no mood to spare even the high and mighty, despite the security that envelopes their lives. That was the message that came from the UK too, where PM Boris Johnson fell ill but recovered.
It is in these situations that the Bihar assembly elections have been called for in November. It remains to be seen how the polls would impact the Covid scene in the state. The outpouring of the entire populace to the voting booths could have serious adverse effects. However, democracy too cannot stand paralysed.