The Covid time bomb that was silently ticking for the last few weeks has finally exploded and no extensive medical explanations should be necessary to make the admission that it’s really so. Even a few days ago when daily caseload counts were hovering around 90000+, the high level of national confidence and unfazed attitude was strikingly observable. But now in the last 24 hours preceding Friday morning when the figures have crossed the 1.31 lakh mark, there’s no way to hide the ‘heat’. Not too long ago the country was being told by the Union Health Ministry that there is no dearth of vaccine stocks and various media reports will also corroborate the ‘claim’. However, and almost suddenly the ‘whispers’ that suggested there might be a demand-supply mismatch have grown into loud demands with several states where cases are showing little signs of reduction, demanding immediate replenishments. It’s so unfortunate that sharp reactions have followed such demands and there are attempts to ‘discover’ politics even at this hour of extreme distress. In a federal structure what can the state(s) do under these kinds of circumstances except seeking the Central help. Instead of receiving assurance or even moral support, strong words which are nothing less than rebukes have arrived. There are frequent tall talks and claims about a thriving cooperative federalism in the country, however, at trying times when it should have seen a bloom, the opposite is happening.

The onward march of Covid in the second phase especially in terms of daily additions is already a concern and it has been amplified with the jump of casualties. In the last 24 hours till 9 am on Friday the national Covid death toll stood at 780 and it seems that the days of daily 1000 deaths and 1.5 lakh addition will be the new normal within a few days from now. In Arunachal Pradesh which had a prolonged safe period spanning more than 3 months, cases are also rising and it needs to be noted that as of now it’s the districts that are emerging as new hotspots unlike the 1^st wave when it was the ICR. After Maharashtra, on Friday Rajasthan too had pleaded the Centre for their required stocks since both are staring at shortage. A couple of days ago, Serum Institute of India sought Rs 3,000 crore grant from the Centre to ramp up its Covid vaccine (Covishield) production capacity beyond 100 million doses from the current output capacity of 65-70 million doses a month. It’s certainly a critical juncture for all- people, states and manufacturers.

The Centre must feel the overwhelming pain of the people and be accommodative in dealing with the evolving situation since the ‘needs’ are really genuine.