Smruti Ranjan is the nephew of my colleague Mr Bamadev Behera. He was 36 years old and worked in Bengaluru. On April 20, 2021, he experienced fever and contacted a doctor. He was tested positive for typhoid. The doctor gave medicine and suggested a Covid test. He found the queue for Covid testing is very long and tiring so he opted not to test as he’s self confirmed that the fever is due to typhoid. The body temperature reduced for a day and then increased again. On April 24, he experienced difficulty in breathing. He went to a doctor and found that his oxygen level was 55.
He was immediately tested for Covid. As he was not yet declared positive, no hospital admitted him although he and his elder brother moved from one hospital to another. Some hospitals that denied admission helped him providing oxygen for a couple of hours to stabilize his oxygen level. On April 25, by 11pm, his Covid report came as positive. He was officially admitted into a hospital that was providing oxygen on an emergency basis. On April 26 at 12 midnight, he succumbed. He is survived by a 28-year-old wife and a six-year-old son.
No doubt the above instance is very sad and we may be very angry with the governments and the system which couldn’t save the young man. Many would ask resignation of the state government and/or central government. But can they be blamed? America is a super-power and is the best in having health care infrastructure in the World. The country has just a 33 crore population and the richest country. Yet, it couldn’t control Corona’s first wave and thousands of people died. How can you expect a country like India having a 130 crore population with very little health care infrastructure to tackle the deadly second wave of the coronavirus? There’s always a point of beyond control and in some parts of the country, it’s really out of control. Such a deadly pandemic can’t be controlled by any government of the Globe forget about the Indian government.
The point must be realised that Covid-19 doesn’t attack you nor does the government or system forcibly infect you of the Covid virus. It’s you who due to carelessness, casual approach, and whimsical bravery make yourself open for Covid. If you flout Covid appropriate protocol then, the virus won’t spare you. It will stay away from you if you wash your hands regularly, maintain physical distance, wearing the mask, consuming a healthy diet, exercising appropriately, then Corona can’t attack you.
But if you fail to observe this, then you are welcoming Covid and thus you are the first responsible person for being infected. The number of infections is increasing just because people are flouting the Corona protocol. You can blame the government but then you must realize that it’s your mistake for which you are infected by Covid.
Let’s come to Smruti Ranjan’s case. Yes, he did some mistakes for which he was infected. But then he committed another cardinal mistake. Any disease including deadly Covid-19 can be cured if it’s detected early. Despite the doctor’s suggestion he didn’t test himself rather waited till his oxygen level reduced to the level of 55. Blame the government and system, but your life is lost in the meantime.
Many started being careless thinking that now there will be a vaccination for all adults above 18 years of age. When the assembly election campaigns were going on, first Congress and then other oppositions including non-BJP state governments demanded that the vaccination age should be reduced to 18 years. The number of voters in the age group 18-44 is nearly sixty percent. Knowing it very well, the BJP government at the Centre reduced the age limit of vaccination to 18 years.
The point is that both the opposition and the BJP well aware that vaccination above the age of 18 years is impracticable. Problem with us that we didn’t do the mathematics and fallen into trap of such a populist proposal that is politically motivated. Let me do the mathematics.
Serum Institute of India has a capacity of producing 70 to 100 million drugs a month although its present production is 60 million doses in a month. Similarly, Bharat biotech is producing nearly 10 million doses per month. That means at present 70 million doses are being produced. If you reduce the age limit to 18 means now over a billion people became eligible for vaccination, which means it requires two billion doses. With the present capacity, these two vaccines will take around 30 months (Two and half years) to produce two billion doses.
Now, the Co-win app may crash, many would desperate for registration and even agitate for national vaccination. But then no government has a magic wand to vaccinate all overnight. There’s a chance that several other vaccines may enter India in July-August. But then also all are not going to be vaccinated before the end of 2022. So, stop living in a fantasy world and try to live in the reality.
Even if one is vaccinated, he may not be safe from the onslaught of the ever-mutating the Covid-19 virus. Present vaccines are said to be effective against the current double mutant strain. But in the time to come, these will be mutated again, and maybe there’s a time, we have to take further vaccines to be saved from ultra-mutated (multi-times) virus strains.
But then, the easiest method is here. Follow the simple corona-appropriate behaviour. Masking up, hand sanitisation, physical distancing, and following updated guidelines as provided by governments from time to time following the expert advice. As I said earlier, Corona will attack you only when you welcome the virus by flaunting the protocol. If you got Covid19 due to your mistake, then you may blame, government, system, God, China, and many other things, but finally you will lose your life. That’s why I say, your life is in your hand. Don’t welcome Coronavirus due to your misplaced bravery (That there’s nothing called Corona Virus), or misplaced assessment (that I can’t be infected), or such other follies.
Save yourself from getting infected by observing strict corona-appropriate protocol. If, by mistake, you get infected, test as early as possible because early detection will save your life. After all, it’s your life and you are hundred percent responsible for saving your life from this pandemic.