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A casual attitude towards the world’s deadliest pandemic is costing a bomb to India. Not wearing mask at public places, unable to follow Covid appropriate norms of social distancing, organising social functions with large number of gatherings saw a second wave surging in full swing.
India saw a massive surge of 1,26,789 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest so far. Of the total, Maharashtra recorded the highest of 59,907 cases. Among others, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, too, reported more than 6,000 cases. India is the 4th-worst hit country in terms of active cases witnessing a grim record of second-most fatalities in a single day in 2021, to be 685.Active cases now stand at 910,319.The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (3,173,261), Kerala (1,144,594), Karnataka (1,033,560), Andhra Pradesh (910,943), and Tamil Nadu (907,124).Delhi too recorded this year’s biggest single-day rise of 5,506 cases
With cases rising at an unprecedented pace, some states have already started facing the heat of vaccine shortage. Among them is very obvious the worst hit state of Maharashtra. The state Health Minister, Rajesh Tope, has requested the central government of at least 40 lakh vaccines every week. Other states like Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand had similar concern over exhausting vaccine stocks to the Central government. However, Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan assured that there is no shortage and the vaccine stocks would be timely replenished. He lashed out at Maharashtra and other states for their “irresponsible statements” in san attempt to create panic among the public and divert attention from their own failure in controlling the Corona spread.He said, “In recent days, I have seen with growing dismay a number of irresponsible statements from some government functionaries in the context of Covid-19 pandemic”. He further added that the primary objective of the vaccination drive is to vaccinate the most vulnerable and keeping the mortality rate at it’s lowest.
The Health Minister was responding in strong words to the statements made by some Maharashtra leaders highlighting the vaccine shortage. Dr Vardhan pointed to the “lackadaisical attitude” of the state government and blaming them of the second wave. He also took upon the Chhattisgarh government of showing sharp rise in the number of cases. He urged the state officials to ramp up their health infrastructures rather than getting involved in petty politics at the cost of public lives.
According to the Union Health Ministry, India has crossed a 9 crore mark in administering the covid-19 vaccine. Over 30 lakh doses were given in the last 24 hours. Of these, eight states account for 60 per cent of the total doses administered. Globally, India leads the world in inoculating over 30 lakh people at an average daily. The world’s biggest inoculation drive aim to cover 250 million people by July 2021 for which pace needs to be maintained.
