The USA which suffered the worst consequences of the first wave of Covid19 is now ready to discard the masks and return to normal. Reason? Most, or all of its citizens are vaccinated. While there is no guarantee that the virus will not mutate further, in a world where distances have reduced, science, will hopefully, discover a vaccine for that too. What’s baffling is the vaccine hesitancy in Meghalaya especially among the elderly who are also most vulnerable. This is the time when MLAs/MDCs should be out campaigning in their constituencies to ensure all their constituents are vaccinated. But it appears that even among this group of political elites too, fear of the vaccination prevails. Quite a few have not had even their first dose.
Meanwhile those in the 18-44 age group seem more inclined to be vaccinated, some travelling several kilometers into another district to get their jabs. This is the active group that wants to break free of the virus because they miss their social life and want to get back to their normal educational schedules. This group is disinclined to be influenced by religion or superstition. They are, apparently better informed because they get their information from multiple sources. The elders on the contrary are fed conspiracy theories, made worse by religious misgivings. Unless the majority of Meghalaya’s population gets vaccinated our chances of returning to normal will recede. People will continue to be infected and die even as the economy shrinks to breaking point. Even now there is a clamour that Government should relax the norms since people are facing a money crunch by remaining at home and not being allowed to work. But Government has to balance the rising infection with locking down the population as healthcare facilities reach breaking point.
India is running short on vaccines but in the recent G7 meet on June 11, last at Cornwall, UK the countries have unanimously agreed that top priority should be accorded to leading the global recovery from coronavirus while strengthening resilience against future pandemics. Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations have pledged more than 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses to poorer nations which includes India. The International Monetary Fund calculates that $50 billion investment now by the G7 to vaccinate people in poor countries would yield $9 trillion in additional economic growth by 2025 by controlling the pandemic earlier. Vaccinating the globe will require dynamic leadership and international cooperation. If the United States provides that leadership and demands that cooperation, millions of lives will be saved, and the world will have a new template for solving the Covid 19 challenge.
