The Evening Wrap: Opposition parties urge Modi to start free, universal vaccination

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The Evening Wrap Wednesday | 12 May, 2021

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Opposition parties urge Modi to start free, universal vaccination
In a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 12 Opposition parties have urged the government to immediately begin a free, universal mass vaccination campaign across the country as the Covid-19 pandemic has "assumed unprecedented dimensions of a human catastrophe." This is the second joint letter by the opposition parties in less than ten days to the government. In an earlier letter on May 3, the parties had asked the government to ensure uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen and free vaccinations. The signatories of the letter include Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray and Hemant Soren. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference leader Dr. Farooq Abdullah, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI general secretary D Raja and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury are the other signatories. The parties complained that all their previous attempts to draw the government's attention, both independently and jointly, had come to naught. "Without going into all the acts of commission and omission by the Central government that have brought the country to such a tragic pass, we are of the firm opinion that the following measures must be undertaken on a war footing by your government," they said. The government should procure vaccines centrally from all available sources -- global and domestic. "Immediately begin a free, universal mass vaccination campaign across the country. Invoke compulsory licensing to expand domestic vaccine production," they noted. The budgetary allocation of ₹35,000 crore for vaccines should be immediately spent, the parties said. As of now, only close to ₹5,000 crore had been spent. The parties also demanded that the construction of the Central Vista project should be stopped forthright and instead the money used to procure oxygen and vaccines. "Release all money held in the unaccounted private trust fund, PMCares to buy more vaccines, oxygen and medical equipment required," they stated. Covid-19 catastrophe was preventable, says independent panel of experts The catastrophic scale of the Covid-19 pandemic could have been prevented but a "toxic cocktail" of dithering and poor coordination meant the warning signs went unheeded, independent global panel concluded on Wednesday. The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) said a series of bad decisions has allowed Covid-19 to kill at least 3.3 million people so far and devastate the global economy. Institutions "failed to protect people" and science-denying leaders eroded public trust in health interventions, the IPPPR said in its long-awaited final report. Early responses to the outbreak detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019 "lacked urgency", with February 2020 a costly "lost month" as countries failed to heed the alarm, said the panel. To tackle the current pandemic, it called on the richest countries to donate a billion vaccine doses to the poorest. And the panel also called on the world's wealthiest nations to fund new organisations dedicated to preparing for the next pandemic. The report was requested by World Health Organization (WHO) member states last May. The panel was jointly chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The report, 'Covid-19: Make it the Last Pandemic', argued that the global alarm system needed overhauling to prevent a similar catastrophe. "The situation we find ourselves in today could have been prevented," Sirleaf told reporters. "It is due to a myriad of failures, gaps and delays in preparedness and response." "Poor strategic choices, unwillingness to tackle inequalities and an uncoordinated system created a toxic cocktail which allowed the pandemic to turn into a catastrophic human crisis," the report said. The threat of a pandemic had been overlooked and countries were woefully unprepared to deal with one, the report found. The panel did not spare the WHO, saying it could have declared the situation a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) -- its highest level of alarm -- on January 22, 2020. Instead, it waited eight more days before doing so. The panel also proposed an overhaul of the WHO to give it greater control over its funding and more authority for its leadership. Health Ministry claims WHO doesn't mention any 'Indian variant' though it does, using the scientific name The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not associated the term 'Indian Variant' with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in its 32-page document, according to the Health Ministry. In fact, the word 'Indian' has not been used in its report on the matter, noted a release issued by the Ministry on Wednesday. It added that some reports had covered the news of classifying B.1.617 as a variant of global concern and termed the B.1.617 strain of the coronavirus as an "Indian Variant". "These media reports are without any basis and unfounded," added the release. This release, however, seems to be willfully mixing up two different issues: it is certainly inappropriate to link the nomenclature of any variant with a particular nation, and it has been pointed out by many that it is not right to speak of the 'Wuhan virus' or the 'U.K. variant', etc. But that doesn't mean that B.1.617 did not originate in India, or that it is not most widely prevalent in India, or that it is not a 'Variant of Concern'. As The Hindu's editorial today, titled "A matter of concern: On Indian coronavirus variant" noted, "The Indian variant, B.1.617 and its family of related coronaviruses have been categorised as a Variant of Concern (VOC) by WHO, a classification which will now prompt greater international scrutiny of those who test positive overseas." You can read the editorial here. Ivermectin still being used in India despite WHO recommendation against it Though it continues to be listed in India as a possible treatment option for mild Covid-19 patients under home isolation, Ivermectin, according to the World Health Organisation's recent direction, is not recommended for general use. This orally-administered drug is included in India's revised national Covid-19 treatment protocol for people with mild infection even though its maker has now clarified that there is no evidence of its efficacy against the viral disease. "Safety and efficacy are important when using any drug for a new indication. WHO recommends against use of 'Ivermectin' for COVID-19 except within clinical trials," Soumya Swaminathan, WHO's chief scientist, tweeted earlier this week. Indian physicians who continue to use this drug state that it is an approved anti-parasitic agent. "It has shown, in laboratory settings, to inhibit SARS-COV2 replication. It may be effective for the management of early onset, mild Covid-19 for adult patients. In a clinical setting, it is observed that there is an early viral clearance in patients who are put on Ivermectin. There are no severe adverse effects noted in patients with non-severe Covid-19," said Vighnesh Naidu Y, consultant physician, Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad. India opened up too early, says U.S. President's top medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci India made the "incorrect assumption" that it was finished with the Covid-19 pandemic and opened up prematurely, and that's what has left the country in such "dire straits", America's top infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told Senators. India has been severely affected by the unprecedented second wave of the coronavirus and hospitals in several States are reeling under the shortage of health workers, vaccines, oxygen, drugs and beds. "The reason that India is in such dire straits now is that they had an original surge and made the incorrect assumption that they were finished with it, and what happened, they opened up prematurely and wound up having a surge right now that we're all very well aware of is extremely devastating," Dr. Fauci told the Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions Committee during a hearing on Tuesday on the Covid-19 response. Dr. Fauci, who is the Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is also the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden. Chairing the hearing, Senator Patty Murray said that the surge of Covid-19 that is devastating India is a painful reminder really that the U.S. can't end the pandemic here until it ends it everywhere. "India's outbreak underscores the need for a robust public health infrastructure in the U.S. to respond appropriately to this pandemic and future outbreaks as well," Senator Murray said as she asked Dr. Fauci what can the U.S. learn from India's outbreak. Justice Chandrachud tests positive for Covid-19 Supreme Court judge Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who was leading the Bench hearing cases on Covid-19 management, has tested positive for the virus. A crucial hearing on the COVID issue is listed before a three-judge Bench of Justices Chandrachud, L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat for hearing on Thursday. Justice Chandrachud's Bench had in the previous hearing constituted a National Task Force to scientifically study and recommend a foolproof mechanism for allocation of oxygen to States. Justice Chandrachud had made it clear to the Centre that the Supreme Court would not remain a "mute spectator" to a national calamity. The Covid-19 cases, which were initially being heard by a Bench led by former CJI Justice S.A. Bobde, was shifted to a Bench led by Justice Chandrachud following Justice Bobde's retirement. Gautam Navlakha denied bail again The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused bail to activist Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. A Bench led by Justice U.U. Lalit had reserved the case for judgment on March 26. The case was listed on Wednesday. Justice K.M. Joseph pronounced the verdict, saying Navlakha's period of house arrest cannot be counted as "custody" and, hence, he was not eligible for statutory bail. The Bench had heard arguments raised by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocates Nitya Ramakrishnan and Shadan Farasat for grant of default bail to Navlakha under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with Section 43(D)(2) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Navlakha challenged the dismissal of his bail plea by the Bombay High Court on February 8. The High Court had upheld the NIA court verdict denying him bail "despite the petitioner spending more than 90 days in custody". Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 2,35,63,982 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 2,56,607. The head of the main Indian health agency responding to the coronavirus has said districts reporting a high number of infections should remain locked down for another six to eight weeks to control the spread of the rampaging disease. Balram Bhargava, head of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said in an interview that lockdown restrictions should remain in place in all districts where the rate of infection is above 10% of those tested. Currently, three-fourths of India's 718 districts have what is known as a test-positivity rate above 10%, including major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and the tech hub of Bengaluru. Dr. Bhargava's comments are the first time a senior government official has outlined how long lockdowns, which already encompass large parts of country, need to continue to rein in the crisis in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has shied away from imposing a nationwide lockdown because of the economic impact and has left it to State governments. "The high positivity districts should remain (shut). If they come to 5% from 10% (positivity rate), we can open them, but that has to happen. That won't happen in six-eight weeks, clearly," Dr. Bhargava said in an interview at the New Delhi headquarters of the ICMR, the country's top medical research body. Referring to the capital, one of India's hardest hit cities, where the positivity rate reached around 35% but has now fallen to about 17%, Dr. Bhargava said: "If Delhi is opened tomorrow, it will be a disaster." In Brief A day after 71 bodies of suspected Covid-19 victims were retrieved from the Ganga at Chausa in Buxar district of Bihar, the authorities on Wednesday spread a big net in the river to catch bodies floating in from the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. Taking cognizance of the bodies being found floating in the river, the Patna High Court asked the State government to file an affidavit on it by Thursday. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

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