India’s COVID Crisis

India is going through an unprecedented situation where almost 4,000 people are losing their lives every day while 400,000 are catching the virus. These are official numbers and the real number is surely much higher as home deaths are not counted. People have to fight at every level- getting an ambulance, then struggling to get hospital beds, fight for oxygen cylinders, struggle to get remdesivir drugs for treatments, and finally even limited space at the crematorium- so wait for your turn. But how did it happened and how we came to this situation? Well, the reasons are so many and not just one. Let’s look at these one by one.

1. We were too complacent: Our leaders declared victory against COVID in January. People no longer thought that it is their duty to wear masks as even their political leaders no longer wore masks in huge political rallies in election states. The vaccination even though it started on January 16 was still very slow and as of today, only 2 % of Indians are fully vaccinated while in the US, it is 30 %. The Indian government started sending out vaccines to other countries by claiming that it is the vaccine hub of the world and can manufacture for the entire world. Now we all are seeing that it is struggling to even manage its own demands. This takes us to the second point which is misplaced priorities.
2. Misplaced priorities: The question comes to mind that if examinations like MPSC, HSSC can be canceled/postponed several times then why the elections can not be? That’s simply because political leaders want to think about the things that benefit them not us. There are still local-level elections being conducted across India. If all exams can be postponed or canceled, why do we need an election now in a crisis situation? Certainly, some of the parties are like election machines where winning at every cost is what matters to them.
3. No planning and mismanagement: This can be the most important aspect of this huge crisis that has happened. Certainly, the Indian government doesn’t seem to plan well or there is no planning in advance. If our population is 130 crores ( 1.3 billion people) and if a country at least wants to innoculate 1 billion people, then it means we need 2 billion doses. That’s a big challenge and also means we need to find a way where we can get 2 billion doses in 6 months. How can we get that? Can two companies- Serum and Bharat Biotech provide? If not, can their production capacity be raised? If yes, how many funds need to be given. I wonder if the Indian government really does some planning and uses some simple mathematics skills to come to conclusion. We do see a lot of meetings happening but is there any decision or conclusion made after meetings? We need planning based on real conditions not on some hypothetical situations. Private companies need to be treated as partners, not like aliens as it is being seen that the government is trying to squeeze them in all possible ways. The Vox video explains clearly why countries and their governments need to be Agile to quickly secure order and tieup with private companies instead of following traditional methods of tender and bidding or waiting till the end.

4. Early denial of Pfizer vaccine: As far as I remember, Pfizer ,which is one of the first global companies to get approval for vaccines in the world, had applied to the Indian government to sell its vaccines in India in January or before. But as per media reports, the Indian government had rejected the application stating that the vaccine trials has not been conducted in India. This is surprising because the Pfizer vaccine has been also approved by WHO, and is also being used in many developed countries where vaccines trial might not have been even conducted. This can also be because of its so-called ‘Atmanirbhar’ approach and being extremely Nationalistic. Indian government miscalculated or probably never worried to calculate the resources it needs if the second wave ever happens. And has the Indian government always asked companies to conduct trials in India? In case of emergency, should not we just have based our decision on the fact that WHO-approved Pfizer, so it is good to go? Now, it seems that Pfizer has once again shown interest to sell its COVID vaccine in India as per the media report which is a welcome step. We now also see Russian vaccine sputnik V also will be made available in India soon. It’s like an emergency (on SOS) where the government is rushing everywhere asking for help. Good that they finally have forgotten the ‘Atmanirbhar’ slogan to save its own citizens. In this era of globalization, the countries and their interests are intertwined, so while it is good to promote the policy of Made in India to have growth for the manufacturing sector in the Country but promoting ‘Atmanirbhar’ is an option that can always backfire if tomorrow EU and the USA say we longer will rely on vaccines and software support in India.

5. Denial mode: It is still shocking to see that the government and many bureaucrats are still in denial mode and have been vociferously saying that there are enough hospital beds and oxygen cylinders. Well, Mr.Minister, you need to check real situations. The situation is much different where people have to struggle to get Oxygen cylinders and hospital beds. That again brings two questions- either our ministers and officers are used to telling lies and giving false information or they are disconnected from real situations and living in their own imagination. There has been neither any apology from the government for the chaos and loss of lives nor any dismissal of officers responsible for mismanagement and failure. What’s the use of committees, sub-committees, and task force if they can not even assess the situation on the ground ?. Why can’t the government rope in big private tech companies to have proper data for hospitals to assess the need for oxygen cylinders and beds? Simply because it never cared to plan, do resource management, and examine the situation. It simply was never ready. We do not need leaders with only good oratory skills but also managers who can plan and manage things well.

I hope government will realize its mistakes sooner than later, and while it may not admit the same publically but at least should have a deep discussion in its cabinet meetings and any internal meetings it has planned.

Finally, I can only request everyone to wear masks, maintain a safe distance because if not you, COVID can also happen to your loved ones. We need to protect every one of us. I also would like to salute all the volunteers who have been working tirelessly for providing necessary oxygen cylinders and other help to needy ones across the country. Stay Safe and healthy.

Reference: Vox Video (2021). How rich countries are making pandemic last longer.