CNS: January 2022

Is Gandhi's Talisman the guiding light to end vaccine inequity?

In a world with over 7 billion people, more than 10 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered by the end of January 2022. But more than 3 billion people globally have not received even their first vaccine dose yet. Despite having enough of vaccine doses to protect the most at risk from COVID-19, we have failed to vaccinate equitably. Are some more equal than others? Mahatma Gandhi had rightly said that our world has enough for everyone's need but not for any one's greed.

[हिंदी] With almost 19 million new COVID-19 cases reported, the third week of January 2022 recorded the highest-ever weekly number of new infections so far in the pandemic’s history. This was an increase of 20% more cases than the earlier 'highest-ever record' which was set in the previous week.

[हिंदी] Is it not shocking that after more than two years into the pandemic (when we know how to protect ourselves from getting infected, and have had vaccines for more than a year now), by far the highest-ever number of corona virus infections in a single week were reported in the second week of January 2022? This is an unacceptable failure to save lives and unnecessary human suffering.

[हिंदी] The year 2022 began on a dismal note, with its first week reporting the highest-ever number of COVID-19 cases in a week globally. Since the pandemic began in December 2019, the reported number of people who contracted the virus has been over 306 million and 5.5 million people have died due to it worldwide. The actual numbers could be much higher, as many infections and deaths are likely to have gone underreported.