A new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 has been discovered in South Africa and has understandably sent much of the globe into meltdown anticipating yet another year or more of travel restrictions, lockdowns, and restrictions on mass gatherings.
While it is easy to blame this country or that -- the latest being South Africa that is being made to suffer for simply reporting the new variant that can bypass the immunity offered by the vaccines, the real questions we should be asking is about the botched vaccine roll out in which rich ‘developed’ countries hoarded a bulk of the vaccines for themselves even offering boosters to their populace while ensuring that the third world gets next to none.
As a consequence, it is not entirely surprising that a new variant has emerged in Africa which is the least vaccinated continent globally. While manufacturers of the mRNA vaccine including Pfizer and Moderna have said that they will ‘update’ their vaccines to make it effective against the latest variant, it is likely to take at least three months to be introduced and a rollout will take even longer. No prizes for guessing which countries will grab the stocks first and which countries actually need them if the virus is to be eliminated.
That brings us to a few questions that need answering: Have we learnt any lessons from having lived through two waves of the pandemic (three and more waves in some other countries of the world)? Can we honestly tell ourselves that we have gained from the fights against the two waves of the pandemic that cost thousands of lives in Goa and more than a few hundred thousand lives elsewhere? Have we benefitted, and better equipped to handle an emerging situation? Is our health system better equipped today than it was two years ago? Do we have the surge capacity not only of oxygenated beds but also doctors and medical staff to deal with the high hospitalizations during the pandemic?
The government and the health authorities will answer in the affirmative. However, one need not forget that they were also answering in the affirmative prior to the second wave that hit India in full force and exposed the unpreparedness and lack of everything from beds, to staff to equipment and consumables and left the doctors and junior staff at the hospitals completely unprepared to deal with the situation. Goa was no exception.
A more worrying fact is that Goa is heading into an election that will see a greater mixing of people, mass gatherings, sloganeering and a general abandonment of social distancing norms. A similar situation would prevail in other states going to the polls.
The only saving grace is that the existing vaccines -- while they may not be able to prevent one from being affected by the disease -- are known to reduce severe illness and hospitalization. One hopes that this continues to hold good as we continue to learn more about the current version of the virus. For now, the least we can hope for is the government to take this seriously and not pretend to do so.
