End of the beginning

Any optimism on containing the Covid19 spread is tempered by new developments on the pandemic front. Clearly, vaccination in itself is no full guarantee for humanity to extricate itself from the lethality of the Chinese-induced virus. India has by now administered nearly 50 crore vaccine doses, while the actual requirement is five times this number to cover a population of 1.3-billion-plus via two doses per person. India’s vaccination drive has continued non-stop for more than six months by now. At this pace, it takes two more years to fully vaccinate the entire population.
Several of those who have taken the two jabs have contracted the virus and some of them in severe ways. The Indian companies that have introduced the vaccines did not promise more than 70 per cent efficacy to their products. The cocktails of vaccines are tried too, but the Delta and Delta Plus variants came in with more lethality and are threatening a faster spread. Originator China is grappling with this problem now after a flight from Moscow landed in the eastern city of Nanjing. The cleaning staff at the airport contracted the Delta virus in July and its spread has led to a fresh frenzy of lockdowns and internal travel bans covering more than a dozen Chinese cities including Beijing. The Delta variant has been detected in 135 countries so far, including India, which is also suspected to be a reason for the massive spread in Kerala in recent months. The state is now accounting for half the total infections in India on the health ministry’s daily chart.—over 20,000 daily hits against the all-India figure of a little over 40,000 infections daily.
Yet, at national level, there is no sign of a third wave but chances are that it could begin this month and continue till October. With flight operations mostly cancelled and the Vande Bharat and some other select flights operating, the chances of an invasion of the new and deadly variants still remain. That fear is already evident in the US, where the government adviser on Covid control, Dr Antony Fauci, has said the virus is getting ample time to mutate into more deadly variations due to the slow process of the vaccination drive. South Korea and some other nations have reported the spread of the more deadly Delta Plus variant. What all these mean is that, by the second wave, we have just seen the end of the beginning and worse scenarios are only to be anticipated.