Is procuring enough vaccines, enough?

 

India’s covid 19 vaccination drive commenced on the 16^th of January 2021 and has gone from strength to strength with two new vaccines schemed to join our armoury in the months to follow. We have also reached a point where those between the ages of 15 to 18 will be vaccinated soon.

We have administered 144 Crore doses and completed vaccinating more than 50 % of those above 18 years of age on Dec 5, 2021. However, in the larger scale of things, this is far from being what is desired. A third wave of the pandemic is very much on the brink and despite administering such a huge number of doses we are still far away from attaining sufficient herd immunity as so to hinder spread of the covid 19 virus 

But is our numbers the sole reason for this? Are we going to cast the blame, if any, on our population yet again?

I think there more to it than what meets the eye. Let dissect into the problem and see for ourselves.

1.   Anti-vaxxers

It should not come as a surprise that we are among the presence of people who oppose the idea of vaccination.  I have come across people at work, at a grocery store and even at a local barber shop and these are people who are in no way worried about voicing out their ideology on the harms of a vaccine which has the potential to plant the seeds of doubt in someone’s mind; someone who might have otherwise taken the vaccine.  Anti vaxxers are not a thing of the west and the sooner we accept that and work towards a more sound method of reaching out to them (than a redundant phone caller tune message), the better. Talks about mandatory vaccination are crucial but if implemented, must be carried out along with sufficient education on the need for the same.

 

2.   Fake certificates:

Reuters provides data on how each nation fares in the fight against COVID 19 and their data on the number of doses is based on the vaccines stocks as listed by countries.  However, if we were to look at the vaccination certificates and the number of registrations, it would be quite obvious that fake certificates are already out. This definitely should not come as a surprise in India (as we are well known for fake birth certificates right from joining school) but stricter logging of vaccine stocks and register entries should be implemented to prevent the same from largely disrupting our public health policies.  There is no point in projecting large percentages if those vaccines were never given in the first place. It also paves way for panic among the scientific community if those with a fake double vaccination status suffer from severe Covid or worse succumbs to the illness.  

 

3.   False content on social media:

Just like everything else, we are caught up in the middle of overflowing information available on commonly used social media platforms, information which sometimes lacks credibility but is yet presented in a fashion that emanates authenticity.  Though the number of fact checking websites has also gone up, a lot of people still believe a forwarded message, audio clip or a post blatantly.  This need to stop and clearly it is time for legislative measures to be employed for the same.

Freedom of speech is crucial but when the same freedom adversely impacts the rights of another person, it must be scrutinized.

Another strategy, which is discussed, involves a counter measure of drowning false information in a sea of authentic content but the feasibility of the same is questionable.  There is still so much that people need to know about the disease and about the different drugs available at this point in time owing to which, we must get ahead of the race if we were to outclass the fake news on the same.   

We once did wonder if a vaccine would ever come out. And we have plenty of them now but what is ironic is that we as a community have still not accepted them. It almost seems like as if we find the possibility of a hope in the midst of this ongoing wave of darkness, implausible.  Unlike most things, this is not a personal battle. We are in this as a race, as a species or at the least, as a country and when our ill-thought out decisions tend to affect the lives of others, we need to step back and rethink.