These days the human society is divided into two, or let’s say three groups. Forget the times when the society used to distinguish people based on race, colour, caste, language, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender and multitudes of factors that make us human. These diverse traits of ours exist even today but they seem now to exist only in the background. Why? In pandemic times like these, when human survival itself is a pre-requisite for all of these factors to exist, there is a powerful force than these which will ensure that humans survive to call themselves most intelligent of God’s creations. This powerful force or potion of hope is the Covid vaccine which is safeguarding the world against the extant pandemic.
When I was reading the Meluha series by Amish
Tripathi, I was fascinated by the concept of magical Somras drink of
immortality. In today’s times, the Covid vaccine which is circulating across
the nations of the world as a result of a year’s perseverance, thorough research
and trials, is nothing less than the Somras. The scientists, doctors and even
the nurses who administer these doses to common people like us are like the Maharishis
of modern times. Thanks to their efforts, today almost each one of us is either
fully or partially vaccinated.
I remember how 2021 started as a year of hope
when Covid vaccines were launched amid plummeting cases and a bit of optimism. Taking
baby steps, it was first launched for health workers and senior citizens, steadily
propagating to other age groups as well. India also exported vaccines to
countries that needed them. Initially there was a lukewarm response to vaccines
as Covid cases were on the decline at the start of the year and people almost deemed
that the pandemic was gone for good. We were like that hare in the hare and
tortoise story, celebrating the victory over pandemic prematurely. Masks and
safety precautions became blurred visions. However, we got a major blow when
the second wave turned its ugly head in April 2021, infecting and taking toll
on many lives. Thus, the panic situation arose and as a result, we faced
scarcity of vaccine. Life which had regained of specks of normalcy was pushed
back to a standstill.
Surviving is a race in a preponderantly huge India
and we experienced that in our former normal lives as well, more metaphorically
though. CoWin portal, which was created to book vaccine slots, gave up on
people too, crashing while also crashing people’s hopes to get a slot. People found
themselves caught in the loop of OTPs and captcha, while losing the slots in
the blink of an eye. Thus, demand surged and supply fell short. CoWin’s failure
to show a slot during tense times used to be another day of disappointment spent
in waiting. If luck worked in your favour, you were grateful enough to find a
slot for yourself or for your family member, again reminding me of local trains
where you could manage to find a seat despite the heavy crowd.
This dark cloud too had a silver lining. It is
not possible for the government or government hospitals alone to try and cover
every single individual, given our population. Hence, corporates too extended a
hand of co-operation to the government. Corporates started administering vaccines
to its employees and their families and also bore the vaccine costs by having a
tie-up with several private hospitals. I was fortunate enough to get my first
shot from the organization I work for, which was a perfect example of efficient
crowd management, maintaining discipline and following rules of social distancing.
With more and more people getting vaccinated now, we have learned to battle Covid
with cases now slowly receding. Vaccinations are like our armours which will
eventually make this deadly virus surrender in defeat.
Hats off to the spirit of our hospitals and health
workers who make vaccines available to us within the vicinity of our homes, we
read about crores of jabs given in our country on a single day, which is truly
praiseworthy. India is at par with several other developed nations in providing
vaccines to its citizens. Comparing today’s nearly bearable situation with the
panic situation that we faced in the months of April and May, we are in a better
place with people finding not much of a trouble now to book a slot. I was too,
taken by surprise when CoWin let me book a slot near my home in a span of minute
or so for my second dose. It felt like living in a make-believe world!
Today having a certificate of being fully
vaccinated feels like an achievement because we waited for the vaccines with
hopeful eyes since last year. There was struggle and competition involved at
various levels – right from the common public to national and global levels. This
need for vaccine showed the human side of competitive countries and economies. It
did not matter whether you were rich or poor. The vaccine continues to reach
the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor. With government hospitals
providing vaccines free of cost, we as taxpayers can feel ensured that some
part of our money is surely being spent on a good cause ensuring healthy citizens.
Being fully vaccinated gives us a satisfaction
that we are protected against the virus. Having said that, we should not let
our guard down as the pandemic still continues to hover above us like a hungry
predator. With an attempt to direct life back to normalcy, we see trains, malls,
restaurants opening their doors to fully vaccinated people, thus fueling the mobility
and giving a boost to spending economy. Some companies are also offering attractive discounts to their fully vaccinated customers. Shops are seen open for longer hours too, giving us a ray of hope that economy will revive again, benefiting even the smallest of small businesses. Social media too, plays a role in spreading the need and awareness about vaccinations. Through them, several hospitals and municipal corporations inform citizens of available vaccine doses. Thus, this long human chain or a circle is helping fellow humans to overcome this challenge. 2021 is surely a year of hope, amid the setback
of second wave that hit us really hard. The world and nationwide vaccination
efforts are not only making us physically but also mentally strong. With a united
and strong mental spirit of vaccinated people all over the world, we will
continue to battle this pandemic till each of its wave and variant retracts and
leaves the world. It is up to us though whether we want to be Covid-cautious by
following the norms of social distancing and wearing masks or Covid-idiots by
flouting all the norms. Our present actions foretell the eradication of this
malice.
