At a time when the country is reeling under severe shortage of Covid vaccines with states sending SOS to the Union Health Ministry almost every day to replenish their already empty or on-the-verge-of-nil stocks, the Chief of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla has revealed the first-hand ‘reason’ for the crisis. All news on Monday relating to Covid caseloads, casualties, oxygen shortage and deaths thereto were for the time being outplaced by this breaking news, the telling takeaway of which was - “there were no orders” from the government! Expectedly, within hours the Indian media carried the report which was actually based on an interview Poonawalla gave to the London based Financial Times quoting heavily from it, the Centre refuted the claim which in fact opened a further episode of confusion and blame game. Caught in the war of words are citizens who are queuing daily at health centres and standing for 4-6 hours, only to be told that stocks have been exhausted, try later. Such crises have been unprecedented and remind of war and disease devastated African nations of the mid-eighties. No conclusion can be reached as to who is speaking the truth, the SII Chief or the Centre since the minimum level of transparency that was needed for taking forward the biggest inoculation exercise ever in the country in a glitch-free manner has been missing since the beginning. The hiccups that are now being faced by the states are a direct fallout of this rather inexplicable opacity and as of now, expect if massive imports of vaccines are made, the clamour will continue escalating. It’s an immense mental pressure for any citizen anywhere in the country with the fear chasing day and night that will life be intact till the point of time the shots are taken or will death rob all hopes of survival beforehand.
This is precisely the mental state of most people. With no guarantee that oxygen will be available and no drugs either to pull out from the jaws of death, for all, the only hope is the vaccine. But the way things have been messed up and with meagre convincing signals that an immediate way out is on the horizon, its life as good as near-death. From SII Chief’s statement it’s clear now that the shortage will persist till July and unless Russia saves India by supplying its Sputnik V version of Covid vaccine in extra-large quantities, such mass agony will sustain.
Realities mustn’t be evaded and with import route being the only option left now, the Centre must send SOS to the world just as the states are now sending them to it. When will saner counsel prevail? 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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