- The novel coronavirus pandemic is rightly mentioned as once in a century occurrence that has not only singed the entire global community in more than one way but also has succeeded in wreaking the economies of countries irrespective of being termed as developed, developing, or not so developed. India too was not spared by the devastating effects of the Covid waves in the last two years and as we enter into a relatively safe environment vis-à-vis persistently ebbing confirmed infection cases presently, the time has come to move ahead. In that direction, heartening to note that the Disaster Management Act, which was invoked by the Union Government for the first time ever two years ago to spearhead the Covid response, will not be used beginning April.
PC: Lloyd Law College
- The above move amply signals we have reached a defining turning point in our response to the pandemic-related vagaries with the level of threat diminishing considerably. Subsequently, states will have more autonomy to shape public health responses. However, the available numbers capture just a part of the story. As you are aware, there were 43 million infections and around 5.2 lakh deaths cumulatively. Of course, both are likely underestimated as proxy data thrown up by serosurveys and the civil registration system reflect. Some reflection is appropriate, though. Needless to mention, Covid’s outbreak was a massive stress test on India’s governance architecture as it was found wanting at crucial moments in the first 15 months.
- With the benefit of hindsight, the intensity and duration of the first nationwide lockdown may appear to be excessive as the Governments were unaware of the scale of short-term economic shock. However, nobody anticipated how human suffering and severe economic dislocation will ensue because of the sudden lockdown. We also know how a premature declaration of victory left India unprepared for the savage Delta wave that ripped the country apart between April and June 2021. Thankfully, the success story has been India’s vaccination drive, which has now crossed 1.82 billion doses. Admirably, about 73% of the population aged 15 and above have been administered two doses as of February costing less than 1% of total expenditure in the 2021-22 Union Budget.
PC: HIMANI CHANDNA
- In hindsight again, we would have been well-served if vaccines were pre-ordered in large quantities in 2020 since Serum Institute had the capacity to supply these numbers. Remember, India faced the pandemic on the heels of a slowdown in economic momentum. Further, fiscal policy could have been nimbler after considering the initial uncertain trajectory of the pandemic to support contact-intensive sectors that are yet to recover. In conclusion, the takeaways of two years are that (a) economic disruption must be as little as possible, (b) inevitability of having a sound public health architecture, and (c) learning to live with the virus even if the country faces any further variants of concern. We are ready to move on!
