Tales from the frontline in India —

A doctor in Mumbai says hospital admissions are so high and hospital situation so bad that “ward rounds are now scenes from Dante’s “Inferno”’ #COVID19

https://www.ft.com/content/ad200d93-3247-409a-8afb-482234b4655c

2) the 2nd wave “struck with the ferocity of a tidal wave, making the events of 2020 seem like a ripple in a bathtub. There seems little doubt that this wave is caused by a variant, probably the now dreaded Indian B.1.617 with two mutations — the E484Q and L452R.”

3) “As a physician I can vouch that this strain seems far more infectious, is probably more lethal, and seems to affect the young more frequently than the initial wave. Younger patients between the ages of 26-44 now account for about 40% of all cases and almost 10% of deaths.”

4) “The vaccine saga has been a scandal all of its own. Instead of wooing every credible manufacturer to stockpile the 1.7bn doses India would need, we basked in our “vaccine superpower” status.

5) “The government got its basic maths hopelessly wrong: by March, India was supplying vaccines to 74 nations and exporting far more doses than it had used to inoculate its own citizens.

6) “vaccine desperation with densely packed crowds clamouring to get a precious dose only to find that most centres in Mumbai have no stock left. With only around 5% of India’s vast population vaccinated, herd immunity (70% vaccinated) is more than 700 days away.