Letters to the Editor — October 23, 2021

A remarkable milestone

India should be proud of reaching this milestone (“India crosses 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses”, Oct. 22). However, we need to speed up the vaccination programme, as only about 31% of adults are fully vaccinated. There has to be a concerted campaign to persuade adults vaccinated with the first dose to get their second dose. This is essential because surveys in countries such as Israel and the U.K. indicate that the “protection against catching the virus wanes significantly after five to six months”. Some nations have already started administering booster doses to the fully vaccinated. The recent surge in cases in the U.K. has been attributed to the waning immunity of the vaccinated, less mask-wearing, and increase in gatherings. The task of full vaccination needs to be completed quickly in India as those who were vaccinated in the first half of this year may need a booster dose in the first half of 2022, depending on their immunity levels. We cannot let our guard down.

Kosaraju Chandramouli,

Hyderabad

This is a wonderful achievement, especially since the situation looked extremely grim in 2020 during the first wave and then again during the second wave this year and people were desperately praying for a vaccine. This is a time to thank researchers, lab technicians, scientists, doctors, health workers, nurses, ambulance drivers and all those who helped citizens during the worst times.

Sanath Kumar T.S.,

Thrissur

While this achievement is commendable, India could have been in this place a few months ago and avoided hundreds of deaths if the government had increased vaccine orders earlier and not focused solely on its export commitments believing that the worst was over. The government’s initial complacency ended up hurting the economy too. Our leaders mostly disappeared during the second wave of infections and seem to be communicating more now with the public as there is reason to celebrate. It is great that the government learnt from its mistakes regarding vaccines and ensured a quicker pace of vaccination thereafter, but we cannot forget the lives lost in the process.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,

Faridabad