Corona Epidemic: Travels from Lockdown and Restrictions to Covid Vaccines
The first case of corona virus infection in India was reported on January 30, 2020 in Thrissur, Kerala.
The next day, on 31 January, the World Health Organization declared the corona virus an international disaster of global concern.
Now, after almost a year and after about one crore cases, India is going to start the world’s largest vaccination program from Saturday i.e. January 16, 2021.
The last one year in the fight against Corona virus in India has been full of ups and downs. During this time, the country was engulfed in deep despair, and at some times, strong hopes of victory were won in the fight against this epidemic.
The day of January 16 is going to prove to be the most important stop in this fight.
Initiation of vaccination: the most important step
Scientist AK Ganguly, former director of ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), considers this to be the most important phase of the fight.
Says Ganguly, “This is the first stop of a long battle with which hopes of India’s economic recovery are connected.” Now this is the first phase and if we are successful in this and can give people the option of choosing the vaccine then we can say that our fight against Corona has become stronger. ”
The case of corona virus infection was first reported in Wuhan, China. Officials confirmed the new virus case in Wuhan in December 2019 itself. By February, countries around the world started bringing back their citizens from China.
India also airlifted 759 of its citizens from China on 27 February
Was Also, 43 foreign nationals were also brought from China.
By March, the virus was spreading rapidly around the world. For prevention, India started screening of people coming from abroad on 6 March.
On 11 March, the World Health Organization declared it a global pandemic. The very next day, on March 12, the first death from corona infection was confirmed in India. The stock market also collapsed on the same day. The BSE Sensex fell by 8.18 percent and the Nifty fell by 9 percent.
In the next few days, scientists of India managed to identify the corona virus.
The Government of India gave permission to private labs to test the virus on 17 March.
Now the states were putting restrictions on their own to prevent this virus.
After this, on March 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a Janata curfew. This was seen as a complete lockdown preparation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on 25 March and announced a complete lockdown of 21 days from 12 pm. Meanwhile, all domestic flights were also suspended.
Lockdown on migrant workers
The Corona virus was locked in India. After the Prime Minister’s announcement, the work stopped all over the country. People were imprisoned in their homes. Thousands of workers started returning to their homes on foot. Some reached his home after walking thousands of kilometers.
NK Ganguly says, “The most important time in the fight against the corona virus was lockdown and then gradual lockdown ended. During this time, we saw the migrant workers walking and going home. Jobs went away, the economy stopped, but gradually India grew towards victory in this battle. We insisted on doing the test.
He says, “Initially we could not do very well in tracking the virus. Our health system collapsed. Suddenly there were so many cases of Kovid that people were not getting ICU beds. Because of this, the death toll of people over 60 years of age is also big. But then we invested in PPE, increased testing, improved tracking and we were able to succeed in the fight against the virus. ”
Dr. Chandrakant Laharia, public policy, health system expert and author of the book ‘Till We Win-India’s Fight Against Kovindemic’, says that the lockdown was necessary but not enough to succeed in the fight against Corona.
Not enough lockdown ‘
Says Dr. Lahariya, “It was only when the lockdown was implemented that it was important that it provided time for preparation, but only the lockdown was not enough.”
“Around July and August, we understood that the fight against Corona could not be won only through lockdown.” For this, the system of hospitals will have to be strengthened, testing and public participation will have to be increased. In fact, only public health services can be won by corona.
Doctor Laharia says, “Public participation has been most important in the fight against Corona in India. Wherever people changed their behavior against Corona, caution was taken, there, the cases of Corona started decreasing there. ”
‘Around July-August, policymakers were saying that irresponsible people are responsible for increasing infection. Public participation has proved to be important in the fight against Corona in India. When compared to countries like America, the participation of the people of India has been better in the fight. We must also say that the responsible people have played an important role in this fight.
And increasing infection cases
On March 28, the first 1,000 cases were confirmed in India and then by April 14, only 10,000 cases were reported, while by May 19, corona infection cases had crossed one lakh in the country.
On this day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to extend the lockdown till May 3. Plasma therapy in the country on April 20 The first case of recovering from Korna came through.
On 1 May, Prime Minister Modi extended the lockdown to 17 May. By now, the country had learned to live in strict restrictions. In May itself, ICMR announced to make Corona vaccine in collaboration with Bharat Biotech.
India started coming out of lockdown in June. On June 1, the Government of India announced the guidelines for Unlock-1. On June 10, the number of people recovering from corona infection for the first time in India exceeded those infected.
On 26 June, India crossed the five lakh cases of infection, while on 16 July, it crossed the 1 million cases.
The Government of India released the Unlock 2.0 guidelines on the first day of July. But the transition in India was increasing. On July 6, India became the third most infected country in the world.
Expect Vaccine Amid Growing Infection
On July 15, the first phase clinical trial of India biotech country-made Kovaxin vaccine started.
On August 3, the Serum Institute of India got permission from DCGI to conduct Phase II and Phase III trials. On 26 August, the Serum Institute started trial of its vaccine Kovyshield in India.
In September, India was the most affected by Corona. In this month, the statistics of daily reported cases reached close to one lakh.
September 16 was India’s ‘peak’ when 97,894 cases were reported. Between July 16 and September 15, more than 4 million new cases of infection occurred in India. This was the worst period of transition. After this, the number of new cases started to decline.
By October, the decline in the number of new cases of infection was increasing and the confidence of vaccine was getting stronger.
The Government of India said on October 5 that by July 2021, 20-25 crore people will be vaccinated. On 26 October, the government asked the states to be ready for the three-phase vaccine rollout.
World’s biggest news
In November, the first major news about the vaccine came in the world. Fizer and Biontech said that their vaccine is up to 90 percent effective. After this, other vaccines also gave information about their success and the confidence of people worldwide in the vaccine was strengthened.
On December 18, the number of cases of corona infection in India crossed one crore. 323 days after the first case surfaced, the number of infection cases in India crossed one crore.
On January 3, India approved Bharat Biotech vaccine Kovaxin for emergency use. A day before this, India approved the vaccine Kovishield of Serum Institute of India.
Right now India is using CoveShield on a large scale. Covaxin will be used only in emergencies.
The challenges are many …
Says Ganguly, “We were also successful in making the vaccine. But the vaccine is just the first protective line in this fight. Our population is around 10 million. Even if we exclude children from the vaccine program, then we will have to apply vaccines to 60 to 70 crore people so that we can develop herd immunity. ”
“For this, we will need one billion vaccines.” We have now shown greater confidence in the Kovyshield vaccine. Johnson & Johnson and Fizer’s vaccine have also sought approval, after getting their approval, the vaccine will come in the market as well.
He says, ‘We have been successful in preparing the vaccine. We have developed a cold chain. Prepared for emergencies. But right now we are applying vaccine to frontline workers only. Until the general public does not get the vaccine, the virus will not be completely stopped.
NK Ganguly says, “The risk to the vaccine for frontline workers will be less, but the entire population will have to be vaccinated. There is no clarity about when that work will be done.
The Government of India has brought an app named Co-Win for the vaccine program, where people who want to get vaccinated can register. However, Dr. Ganguly believes that the government should bring an easier way for this.
Ganguly says, “The co-win app will also be difficult for the common people to use. Aadhar card is with everyone in India and can be used in an easy way. We have to bring a method that is easy to use for everyone.
The battle is still on!
So can we say that we have succeeded in the fight against Corona?
In response to this, Dr. Laharia says that until the corona is eliminated from the whole world, we cannot say that we have succeeded.
He says, “We have got experience from European countries and America that this virus runs on a particular pattern and if it gets eased in the fight against it then it comes back again.” Right now we are in the midst of an epidemic and till the last case is not over, we cannot say that we have won. ”
He says, “So far solutions against the corona virus are being seen in bioscience, it is being thought from biomedical approach. But I think we have to think from the social point of view as well.
“Changing the percentage outlook of the mask has also strengthened the fight against the virus. The emphasis will also be on changing people’s behavior. It has been seen that changing the behavior of the people has also strengthened the fight against Corona.
