"India has managed the second Covid wave very well as the number of fresh cases have come down significantly, Niti Aayog Member VK Saraswat has said even as he emphasised that preparations need to be in place to deal with the third wave that might impact the younger population more," Times of India (TOI). "Having failed to prepare for the second wave of the coronavirus infections, officials and health authorities are now routinely warning people of a third wave," wrote Amitabh Sinha. The first wave started declining from mid-September last year when there was still a large population of susceptible people. The second wave has been ferocious. "Experts around the world agree that India's official figure of just over 300,000 coronavirus deaths is a severe undercount of the true tally," Economic Times (ET). "India's official COVID statistics report 26,948, 800 cases and 307,231 deaths" till 25 May, but survey of antibodies to the coronavirus suggests "a true infection count 15 times higher than the official number of recorded cases". This means a large number of people may have developed some immunity to the virus following infection and about 178.5 million have received at least one dose of vaccines, while 45.6 million have received two doses according to Niti Aayog, India Today. With immunity levels increasing, the third wave may not be as bad as the second wave. "Rural India is home to more than two-thirds of the country's 1.35 billion people," The Wire. But, "Urban Indians are getting COVID-19 shots much faster than the hundreds of millions of people living in the countryside". People have to register online using a government app Cowin. "The Cowin portal, mandatory to register for vaccines, has become a stumbling block for many, especially with vaccine supply being affected across India", prompting a Supreme Court bench to ask, "How will an illiterate labourer, from Jharkhand get registered in Rajasthan? Tell us how you will address this digital divide." The Indian Express (TIE). Why registration is mandatory is a mystery because vaccine is not a sweet that people will take in excess. In fact, repeated surveys have shown a significant proportion of people are reluctant to take even one dose, India Today. Prof Bhramar Mukherjee found it impossible to get data regarding "age-sex stratified data for Covid infections, hospitalisation and fatalities", which meant "All the absolute numbers we predicted are essentially wrong or useless", TOI. Naturally, it is impossible to formulate policy when data are being suppressed. "The threat of a potential third wave also looms large, and the healthcare system in rural areas is already overwhelmed in many parts of the country," wrote Arjun Srinivas. "More alarmingly, in states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which have inadequate public healthcare, the share of rural cases in May was a high 79% and 67%, respectively," Mint. Not all of India suffered such appalling conditions. "Kerala officials have stepped in where the Central Government has failed, in many ways, to provide relief for victims of the world's worst Covid-19 outbreak," Deccan Herald. "Though supplies have tightened, Kerala's hospitals enjoy access to oxygen, with officials having expanded production months ago. Covid war rooms direct patients and resources. Doctors there talk people at home through their illness. Kerala's leaders work closely with on-the-ground health care workers to watch local cases and deliver medicine." At present, India has two vaccines: the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine called Covishield and one produced by Bharat Biotech called Covaxin, both of which give strong antibody response after two doses in up to 95% of recipients, TOI. The government has increased the gap between the doses because of shortage of vaccines and is now considering limiting injections to just one dose., TIE. Public Health England studied the effect of single dose of Covishield and found it to be only 33% effective against the B.1.617.2, which originated in India and has recently been named the Delta variant by WHO, wrote Karan Thapar. The Covid Working Group had suggested tracking effect of vaccination but the government refused and they were made to guarantee keeping their discussions secret for 10 years. They try to hide everything. Only death cannot be hidden.
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