At the dawn of 2021, India was enviably the Covid success story, for which all Covid restrictions were relaxed. Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines were shipped to arms that need them. Lockdowns were lockout. And for this, PM Modi was praised, but he made a catastrophic blunder of omission; Only vaccinated 2% of the solemnising mass. And for this howler India lies south of herd-immunity, by 78%
PPP vs Modi
Our Covid, PPP catastrophe is shockingly mismanaged by the NCTF and amateurishly misguided by their Quintet of Quacks. In fact, from the get go they battled tooth and nail with PM Modi for the title of, most incompetent. For without engaging their limited cerebral cortex, they reopened anything and everything, except schools. Alarmingly, the leader of the Quintet drove fear in the masses about Covid testing, by vengefully divulging two APNU+AFC MPs Covid results, in Parliament. Brainlessly, Public Health Practices were dismissed without due process, like Public Sector Workers. Amazingly, rather than take responsibility, they embarrassingly blamed “lax public, politics and minibus drivers,” for the increasing Covid deaths. But most inexplicably was their vaccine begging over buying policy. And like alcoholics burdened with Korsakoff syndrome, they confabulated clinical data, for mysterious Covid vaccines. Depressingly, Covaxin was buried in an unmarked grave, denying grieving Bharat the chance of a final goodbye. Unsurprisingly, they failed the basics of Covid testing, for boneheaded they are in holding the position that increase testing leads to increase deaths. And this level of unmatched incompetence meant PM Modi had to up his game.
What we are witnessing in India isn’t just the fragility of life but the dispensability of poor Indians. For never did I envisage such large-scale deaths would have visited my eyes, for the want of oxygen. For oxygen is freely pervasive hence wouldn’t be given a second thought. But India Covid apocalypse has opened our eyes to the realisation that oxygen cannot and should not be taken for granted.
For the pathophysiology underpinning the supplemental oxygen demand is complexly simple. Our lungs ready-made receptors for Covid are immediately bound to once breached by the virus, triggering pro-inflammatory cascades, eventuating in inflamed lungs that struggle to oxygenate the body. For this pathological process underpins the difficulty breathing that drives the breathless infected to hospitals, some in cars and others in blue-lighted ambulance, all desperately in search of the preciously invisible gas. But no easy task awaits the puffers, facing competition from thousands, over a solitary oxygen cylinder and Venturi mask
And those that perished, paint a heartbreakingly distressing picture. A pregnant woman lost her battle in the never-ending oxygen queue. Her pregnancy delivered death rather than life. Both unceremoniously transferred to the equally long, round the clock, mass cremation queue. A gentleman, increasingly breathless in the oxygen queue, made the decision to try elsewhere. He died of hypoxia, uncertain of a cremation queue place. The desperate many that turned to witch doctors who deliver spirits and not oxygen. Inevitably, death finds them. Then most upsetting are the thousands who rather not die in an oxygen queue, chose to remain at home breathless, to die on their beds with some dignity.
PM Modi consolidates
1947 registered a British India catastrophe where three million Bengals died from starvation. The then British Prime Minister, Sir William Churchill decision to choose war over Bengal lives, was held responsible. Today India, formally British India is facing arguably its worse post-independent crisis. For Covid is ravaging the country, daily abbreviating over 3000 lives but unbothered are the Churchillian politicians who continue with Trumpian maskless hundreds of thousands, political rallies. Then the Covid Petri dish, euphemised the Kumbh Mela festival maskless millions, provided the gas chamber for hundreds of thousands. But most shocking is, despite the unmistakable putrefied odour of death pervasive over the land, the Bollywood elites were taking in both tea and IPL cricket, reserving grieving for teams losses and not the 225,000 bodies covered in cloth. Churchillian crimes in Modi’s India.
And Covaxin, the PPP wonder drug developed by Bharat Biotech, is duly playing its part in this apocalypse. For Biotech surely knew the path to approval; the mandatory three phases of clinical trials which informs efficacy and safety, of new medicines. But Biotech political contacts expedited Covaxin emergency approval albeit, after phase-2. Then immediately on “approval” Covaxin was in the arms of millions, mostly poor. But soon the dangers of expedited emergency approval were recognised and objected to, resulting in massive surplus for which 500,000 doses were dumped into PPP begging bowls with celebratory THANK YOUs, from the Quintet of Quacks.
PPP pushes Modi
The world over, persons with Covid are being advised to delay vaccination for 2weeks-3months. Much longer for those who were treated with monoclonal antibodies. Notwithstanding best practises, Dr. Frank Anthony published new guidance, in the PPP Medical Journal, repudiating International Best Practice of delaying vaccination after Covid, since such is not applicable to us. For Dr. Anthony postulated that a shortage of Covid vaccines in the rest of the world, led to the three-month delay rule since their medicine regulators advised persons with innate immunity from prior Covid, to delay vaccination for three months, facilitating vaccination of those without immunity. But PPP by ensuring we have massive stockpiles of Covid vaccines have saved us such distresses of delays.
But mystifying it is, why the Quintets took begging bowls to poor countries like America, that is burdened with Covid vaccine shortages?
Further, why beg if they have massive stockpiles?
Furthermore, Dr. Anthony was recently moaning over vaccine nationalism where rich countries stockpiled Covid vaccines. So curious am I as to when and how PPP stockpiled their vaccine?
The fact is, after Covid our bodies produce antibodies which serve to protect us from future Covid. If someone with these raging antibodies is vaccinated then the raging antibodies may neutralise the vaccines making them ineffective.
Secondly, having the vaccine soon after the Covid infection could potentially expose others to the infection. Thirdly, if someone recently had Covid and is immediately vaccinated, we cannot determine if any new symptoms are vaccine or Covid relate. For these are the reasons 2weeks-3months delay is recommended.
Hundreds of thousands of Indians have died from Covid while tens of millions are infected, compounded by the absence of WHO approved vaccines. Undoubtedly, PM Modi is to blame since he’d led his people into a deathtrap, for which they are now paying with their lives. And almost synergistically, PPP led us into a deathtrap for which we too are paying with our lives. Two countries, worlds apart, united in tragedy emanating from equally incompetent leaders. For India health service has collapsed. We are not far behind.
