Around the same time last year, I wrote that collectively we are going through the most challenging time of our lives. Back then, the country was in its first big lockdown since the emergency and at the cusp of what is now commonly known as the First Wave. At that time, there were around 100 covid cases in Bangalore, yet it felt like a lot. Saying I was wrong would probably be a huge understatement. Standing where we are today and what we have gone through in the last year, last April pales in comparison to where we find ourselves today.

The sad truth is that as a country, we have been found sleeping on the handle. Despite having a lucky escape from the first wave last year, we simply didn’t prepare ourselves for the second wave, which has hit us hard. There are no beds in the hospitals, no oxygen supply in the ICUs, and no medicines for the common man. And while the vaccine is out, there is simply no supply. Amit Varma captures this beautifully in his column where he writes, “our politicians have failed us, our bureaucrats have failed us, policymakers have failed us, the dysfunctional state stands exposed, and in so many ways, we have failed each other, but one thing that has not failed us is science.”

Unlike the pandemics of the past, we know so much more about the virus this time. On PubMed, the most popular database of medical research, there have been more papers on coronaviruses in the last six months than there had been over the previous two decades (Coronavirus has been around for much longer than we know; it was just not that deadly in the past, so we never heard about it). We have gone from studying one virus to understanding several different mutations. We know that it doesn’t spread from surfaces; it’s airborne. We know what tools the virus uses to get inside cells. In a short period, we have found the drugs that work as treatment and those that don’t.

There is a lot we know, and yet there still are a lot more mysteries to unravel. What is the long-term impact of the virus on critical body parts like the heart, lungs, kidney, etc., even after the virus has left the body. While we know that older people with chronic medical conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, etc., have a higher chance of serious COVID-19, we still do not know what makes them more susceptible. What is long Covid, and how long is it?

But then, how much can we know about a virus after living with it for just around a year?

Considering all of this, it’s nothing short of a miracle that we have been able to develop not one but several vaccines that have proven so effective against the virus. The genetic sequencing of the virus had become available with a few days of the virus been known, thanks to the advancements in medical science technology and the computer-based modeling used now to study the viruses. It has led to a massive acceleration in understanding how the virus functions and hence the development of a vaccine to counter it.

When the first set of vaccines were under trial, the CDC had decided to approve any vaccine that had an effectiveness greater than 50%. We are so fortunate that all vaccines approved so far have effectiveness greater than 70%. Granted that the mRNA-based vaccines (Pfizer & Moderna), which are not available in India, have shown 95%+ effectiveness, but Covishield and Covaxin have both shown incredible results.

A friend of mine, a medical researcher, is conducting a detailed study on the effects of the vaccine at a government hospital in Bangalore. Of the 500 people hospital staff who have received both the vaccine doses, only 37 people have been infected by COVID-19 again. Of those 37 people, only one person needed hospitalization; it means only 0.2% of people in this sample set had developed severe symptoms. Granted that the sample set is small, the results are incredible and align with the larger data on the effectiveness of the vaccine. The vaccines are 10x more effective in preventing hospitalization. That too, under far more challenging conditions - the frontline health workers, most of whom are working in an environment where they are surrounded by a high viral load all the time. These are very encouraging results and a great testimony to the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Let me leave you with a piece of advice my doctor friend gave me - Any vaccine is better than no vaccine. It might not provide all protection, but it provides some protection. If there are more variants in the future or if the current vaccine is not adequate, there will be booster shots to tackle these problems. Don’t worry about them.

Just to be clear, I am not saying that people who are vaccinated cannot catch the infection - they certainly can. The vaccine reduces the possibility of the infection turning into a severe one.

Going by the evidence we have so far and the advice from various medical experts, it’s evident that vaccinating the whole country is our best bet against fighting this pandemic. Let’s do our part by signing up on Cowin to register for the vaccine right away and get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Best,
Kaddy

Not Any More Accurate But a Whole Lot More Confident

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