NEWS IN BRIEF
INDIA
“The situation in India is beyond heartbreaking” The World Health Organization (WHO) says India’s deadly COVID-19 second wave was caused by a “perfect storm” of mass gatherings, low vaccination rates and more contagious variants. In mid-April in Haridwar, an Indian temple town that hosts the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival that is the world’s biggest religious gathering, between one and three million people came together to take a ritual dip in the Ganges. At the same time, many Muslims were celebrating Ramadan with their friends and families. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also encouraging massive election rallies after declaring the pandemic had reached its “endgame” in March. WHO says this “complacent behaviour”, allowing mass gatherings after a relatively successful management of the COVID first wave, had played a major role in the devastating second wave. India has been hit by a highly infectious variant of COVID-19, the so-called “double mutation” or B1617 variant, and it also has weak health infrastructure. WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “The situation in India is beyond heartbreaking.” India’s catastrophe has had dire consequences for other poor countries. The world’s biggest producer of vaccines, the Serum Institute of India was supposed to supply doses to developing nations, especially in Africa. But the export of doses dropped precipitously in April when it shipped 1.2 million doses abroad compared with 64 million in the previous three months.
‘ The incidence is almost vertical. This can happen in any country if we let our guard down. We are in a fragile situation.’ — Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical lead, WHO Emergency Program
WORLD
Science dazzles but not enough benefit One year on, the scientific advances to combat the pandemic have been breathtaking, but the rollout to vulnerable countries is not nearly fast enough. A year ago, the collective understanding of COVID-19 was limited; there were no rapid tests, no vaccines, and little was known about effective treatments. April saw the first anniversary of the World Health Organization-led ACT-Accelerator – a scheme to develop and deliver the tests, treatments and vaccines the world needs to fight COVID-19. Today, rapid diagnostic tests, repurposed treatments and vaccines exist. This scientific progress has been rapid and unprecedented in scale and levels of collaboration. However, the scheme remains grossly underfunded. “World leaders face a choice: invest in saving lives by treating the cause of the pandemic everywhere, now, or continue to spend trillions on the consequences with no end in sight,” said WHO DirectorGeneral Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The explosion of COVID in India has highlighted the weak spot in efforts to control the pandemic – the vulnerability of low- and middle-income countries – which puts the whole world at risk. “COVID-19 knows no borders,” said WHO Special Envoy, Carl Bildt. “A new variant from anywhere could unravel progress everywhere, even in a country that has achieved 100 per cent vaccination. The pandemic is still on the rise. “Only a reinforced global effort to deliver tests, treatments and vaccines to all people everywhere, based on need rather than ability to pay, will bring an end to this pandemic.”
‘ A new variant from anywhere could unravel progress everywhere.’ — Carl Bildt, WHO Special Envoy 36 | THE LAMP JUNE/JULY 2021
