 "Delta to Omicron: Looking back at Covid-19 pandemic's journey in 2021")
Funeral pyres burned day and night, and riverbanks were dotted with bodies as the surge in deaths from the second wave of Covid-19 overwhelmed India. Cases topped 400,000 per day, then the world’s highest single-day figure, and daily deaths surpassed 6,000. Patients were rushed from hospital to hospital; many died on the way or at home. There were reports of bodies found floating in the Ganges or buried by its banks. Oxygen trucks moved under armed guard to replenish supplies that were dangerously low. There were stories of grief and pain everywhere. With both their parents dead, hundreds of children were left orphaned.
As Covid-19 cases exploded in April and May, hospitals across the country ran short of medical oxygen. Deaths mounted and several people with severe symptoms were unable to get a hospital bed or ventilator support. The fight for basic health care reached the courts, which directed the Centre to urgently address the shortages.
#OxygenSoS trended on social media and the queues of people with empty oxygen cylinders outside plants and NGOs grew. As the situation worsened, the Railways ferried Oxygen Express trains, and nearly 50 nations pitched in to help India.
When the second wave was nearing its peak, India faced another battle. Cases of mucormycosis or black fungus — a potentially serious condition that causes blurred vision, chest pain and breathing difficulties — surged, mostly among Covid-19 patients. The health ministry directed pharmaceutical companies to jack up the production of antifungal drug amphotericin B. Hospitals struggled to procure potentially critical drugs such as remedesivir and favipravir amidst reports of their black marketing.
As states declared curfews and lockdowns in April to arrest the spread of the second wave of Covid-19, hordes of migrant workers from cities fled to their homes in rural India, a dreadful repeat of the mass exodus of 2020. Due to state-level restrictions, India’s economic activity, which had been showing signs of recovery, slowed again.
On January 16, India rolled out its Covid-19 vaccination drive, with priority given to frontline workers. On March 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the first jab of Covaxin to boost public trust in the indigenously made vaccine. Two months later, the country started vaccinating those over the age of 45 as Covid cases started to rise again. Vaccination for children above 15 and booster shots for the elderly will begin early 2022.
Nearly 90% of the vaccines administered in India have come from Adar Poonawalla-led Serum Institute of India, which produces licensed version of the AstraZeneca drug — Covishield. This is followed by Covaxin, developed by Krishna Ella’s Bharat Biotech and backed by the Indian Council of Medical Research. Russia’s Sputnik V, too, has a minor contribution.
On October 21, India celebrated the milestone of administering 1 billion doses of homegrown Covaxin and Covishield vaccines.
But getting there hadn’t been easy. When the campaign picked up after a slow start, the country faced a major internal shortage, triggering questions over the Centre’s decision to export the vaccines. To meet domestic needs, exports were temporarily suspended and were resumed recently with the vaccination situation under control.
As the second wave of the pandemic receded, most states reopened schools and educational institutes, with restrictions. According to the School Children’s Online and Offline Learning survey conducted in August, 75% of parents felt their child’s reading ability had declined massively with schools being closed for a year-and-a-half.
Days before December 15, when international commercial passenger flights were scheduled to resume, India extended the ban till January 31, 2022, after the Omicron variant of Covid-19 raised fresh concerns. Domestic airlines were, however, running full flights, and airports were teeming with passengers off to holiday destinations. States have now started imposing curbs to limit the spread of Omicron.
With lessons from the second wave, hospitals are adding beds and working to ensure adequate oxygen supplies to meet any challenge that Omicron may pose. The Centre has asked the states to strengthen health systems, accelerate vaccination, and maintain a buffer stock of essential medicines.