I had written earlier about the ease with which the vaccination programme was progressing and how impressed I was with the systems in place. This confidence made many of us decide to wait 12 weeks for the second jab, so sure were we of an abundance of vaccines and India being touted as the vaccine capital of the world!
We had done our research and come to the conclusion that the longer the interval between the two doses the greater the efficacy of these vaccines. We received a reminder for the second dose a month after we took the first but ignored the message.
And then the surge happened. The headlines in the newspapers and TV news channels were alarming. As reports of a vaccine shortage dominated the news and conversations, we decided to register for the second dose a little before eight weeks.
Scramble for a jab
After trying several private hospitals we managed an appointment at one far away. But by now we were ready to travel any distance. As the countdown began, we received a text message cancelling the appointment. A slot was booked at yet another hospital for May 10. When this, too, was cancelled, we reluctantly made use of high-level contacts to get an appointment at a third facility.
On reaching there we noticed a couple in fighting mode. In the course of conversation, the man said he had been waiting since 7.30am. He was livid with rage and refused to calm down especially since he claimed that he had seen several people who had come after him being taken inside for the jab.
I said a silent prayer that he got his turn before us or else he would turn on us. Luckily for us, we lost sight of him before we went in.
In the short space of a month, things have spiralled out of control, reaching a point where hospitals are running out of beds and oxygen, people are dying for want of care and the unscrupulous fleecing those in desperate need of help.
However, there are also groups of ordinary citizens reaching out to others with offers of free food and transport as well as helping cremate the bodies of those whose relatives are too scared to perform the last rites.
What makes the situation even worse is the deficit of trust in governments when it comes to the numbers of fatalities and positive cases. In many states, the high court has had to step in and warned the government if it did not take immediate action to curb the spread, forcing many states which were in denial to announce lockdowns or curfews.
The exodus of migrant workers has begun once again but this time they are responding to the situation quicker, having learnt from past experience that it is futile to expect help of any sort.
Watching news channels and reading newspapers is so depressing and leaves one with little hope of the situation improving any time soon. Catering companies, many started by home cooks, advertise Covid meals. Hopefully, they mean food for Covid patients.
The advertising world has also cashed in on the pandemic, with fans, paints and other products being promoted as virus-free or with the power to remove 99.9 % of germs and bacteria in the air. These sales pitches can be amusing but I think I will just sit it out at home.
This second wave is hitting home and the victims are people we know, often from within our families, not some vague stranger down the road or on the next street. And there’s talk of a third wave later this year in India and the new variants as the virus mutates.
In Camus’ words, “But what does it mean, the plague [pandemic]? It’s life, that’s all.”
Vanaja Rao is a freelance writer based in Hyderabad, India
