By Sophia Kurz
While more than 64 per cent of UK citizens aged 18 and over have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, India is still battling a second deadly wave.
Television coverage has shown overwhelmed hospitals experiencing a shortage of oxygen and mass bed capacity, with some patients doubling up on beds to utilise all possible space available. They are the lucky ones.
India is the second most populous country in the world, with a growing population of more than one billion people, and a population density of 382 persons per sq km. The Indian government, in their efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, had implemented one of the strictest lockdown protocols in the world. Activated in 2020, regulations of this protocol included a curfew, prohibition of events and gatherings, closure of places of worship and non-essential services, work-from-home enactment, and more.
The government has been easing lockdown restrictions throughout the span of the pandemic, but cases began surging towards the end of March of this year, with up to 400,000 new cases daily. According to CNN, at least 24 of India’s 36 states and union territories are now under some form of Covid restrictions including Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, and Kerala.
“We were very careful in the first wave, says Dr Om Srivastava, an infectious disease specialist based in Mumbai. “ Over a period of time, from about November of last year, we probably became a little bit complacent, thinking it was out of our lives. In doing that, we probably did not keep the social distancing we should have.”
Mortuaries in India are working overtime and are struggling to keep up with the sheer demand of bodies needing to be prepared for burial. Cremations are also becoming increasingly common, with some crematoriums working upwards of 14 hour shifts to keep up with the pile up of bodies.
Burial grounds are facing a similar issue, with Mohammad Shamim, ITO Graveyard supervisor, one of Delhi’s largest burial grounds, saying: “It has become impossible to dig graves manually. We were getting around 9-12 bodies during the third wave of the virus around October- November. The numbers have increased now”.
The Indian government announced that starting 1 May, all individuals over 18 may be eligible to receive what limited vaccines are available. More than 34m people are fully vaccinated — about 2.52 per cent of the country’s population, and now the government has prohibited the export of vaccines.
Organisations such as Oxfam India, UNICEF, The Indian Red Cross Society, and others are focusing on increasing the vaccination rate, Additionally, influential persons, such as renowned golfer Krishiv KL Tekchandani, who donated all his prize money to help fund the vaccination drive at his local golf club, Bombay Presidency Golf Club, have been raising awareness of the urgency of the vaccination programme.
