China News Service, April 29. On the 28th, 360,000 people in India were infected with the new crown in a single day, and 3,293 people died in a single day, setting the world's highest value again, and the cumulative total death toll exceeded 200,000.
However, less than 9% of people in India have received the first dose of vaccine, and the speed of vaccination and vaccine supply are far behind the spread of the virus.
At the same time, high-income countries have already stockpiled large amounts of vaccines.
According to reports, as of March, Canada has received five times its population of vaccines, and the United States has purchased at least twice the number of vaccines it needs.
The United States purchased 300 million doses of the vaccine from AstraZeneca in May 2020. There is currently a large inventory, but no emergency use authorization has been granted for this vaccine.
Even this vaccine that is not yet available, the United States has always refused to share it.
It was not until the Indian epidemic caused global concern and widespread criticism of the US's behavior that it tried to "remedy the situation" and announced that it would "share" 60 million doses of AstraZeneca with other countries.
However, experts predict that the epidemic in India will "significantly worsen" in the next few weeks, which may become a global concern.
The continuous surge in confirmed cases has paralyzed the medical system in many parts of India, and many patients can only receive treatment in temporary establishments.
The picture shows medical staff transporting oxygen tanks.
[The epidemic is out of control, and India's new crown patients "die like animals"]
"I can't believe that we are in the Indian capital," said Jayant Malhotra, who helped out at a crematorium in Delhi. "The confirmed cases have no oxygen. They die like animals."
On the 28th, the number of newly diagnosed cases in India reached 360,960 in a single day, setting a new global high again. The cumulative number of confirmed cases was close to 18 million, the death toll exceeded 200,000, and the medical and funeral industry almost collapsed.
In Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, Rajendra had difficulty breathing three days after developing symptoms of new coronary pneumonia.
Without waiting for the ambulance, his son drove him to a hospital in the capital Lucknow.
However, Rajendra was refused because there was no registration form distributed by local medical officials.
After several twists and turns to get the registration form, Rajendra had died in the car at the entrance of the hospital.
His son said, "If the hospital were not to wait for a piece of paper, but to admit my father to the hospital, he might still be alive today."
As medical oxygen is in short supply, more and more hospitals require patients to bring their own oxygen cylinders, and people have to turn to the black market.
The 49-year-old store owner Ahsan suffered from breathing problems last week. His brother Alam bought a bottle of oxygen on the black market for $350, which is five times higher than the normal price, but only lasts for 8 hours.
When he hurried back to the supply office for oxygenation, hundreds of people lined up to buy it. In the end, his brother unfortunately died at home.
The spread of the epidemic in India has led to an oxygen supply crisis in many hospitals. Many medical staff, staff and ordinary people have brought oxygen cylinders to the oxygen refueling station.
The picture shows a worker filling medical oxygen cylinders in a facility on the outskirts of Chennai.
[The scale of the epidemic may be seriously underestimated and the vaccination speed is far behind]
What's more worrying is that India's huge population base and logistical problems make it very difficult to detect the new crown virus or accurately record the death toll, and it also makes it more difficult for the outside world to understand the exact scale of India's new crown crisis.
Experts from the World Health Organization and India believe that the cumulative number of confirmed diagnoses and deaths currently announced in India is seriously underestimated.
WHO chief scientist Swaminathan said that based on past data from India, the actual number of infections may be 20 to 30 times the official announcement. In other words, as many as 529 million Indians may have been infected.
The virus is raging, but the speed of vaccination in India is far behind.
India began vaccination on January 16, with the goal of covering 250 million people by July 2021.
However, so far, it is said that only about 118 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine, covering less than 9% of India’s population.
India has a large population and the task of vaccination is arduous. The logistics and infrastructure problems faced by the country make the promotion of vaccines more complicated.
BBC India correspondent Sudik Biswas said: "It is not clear whether the country has enough vaccines and national capacity to accelerate the speed of promotion and expand coverage to groups including young people."
Swaminathan pointed out that currently only about 2 million people in India are vaccinated every day, but the actual daily demand is estimated to reach 6 million to 7 million doses of vaccine. Therefore, vaccine supply and vaccination must be accelerated.
On April 25, local time, a patient and his wife were waiting in a tricycle to enter the hospital for treatment.
[Overstocking in developed countries disrupts global vaccine supply]
While India is struggling with a large shortage of medical resources and vaccines, many developed countries are sitting on a large number of surplus vaccines.
The "People's Vaccine Alliance" pointed out that the vaccines ordered by rich countries are enough for each citizen of these countries to vaccinate 3 times, and the vaccines ordered by Canada are enough for their citizens to vaccinate 5 times.
The Global Health Innovation Center of Duke University in the United States estimates that the surplus of vaccines in the United States will reach more than 300 million doses in the summer.
How did this situation come about?
In fact, when companies including Pfizer, Modena, and AstraZeneca began to develop new crown vaccines, rich countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and European Union countries entered into deals with them to provide these companies with billions of dollars in funding to accelerate vaccine research and development. In exchange for the priority right to use the vaccine.
For example, in May 2020, the US government ordered 300 million doses of vaccine from AstraZeneca at a price of US$1.2 billion, but this vaccine has not yet been approved in the United States.
By January 2021, Wells Fargo has pre-purchased 96% of Pfizer’s planned output that year and 100% of Modena’s planned output.
According to "Our World Data" statistics, although high-income countries account for only 16% of the world’s population, they have already obtained 46% of the new crown vaccine production; low- and middle-income countries/regions account for 40% of the world’s population and 19% of the world’s population. Vaccine production; and the poorest countries/regions account for 10% of the world’s population and only distribute 0.4% of the dose.
On the other hand, the Global New Coronary Vaccine Access Mechanism (COVAX) originally planned to deliver 187.2 million doses of vaccine by the end of May, but as of April 21, only about 40.2 million doses of vaccine were delivered, accounting for only 21.5% of the original dose.
According to the British "Guardian" analysis, most of the COVAX vaccine supply depends on the Serum Institute of India (SII) production, but the US promulgated the "National Defense Production Act" in February to restrict the export of vaccine raw materials, which hindered the production of vaccines in India, and the domestic epidemic worsened rapidly. The demand for vaccines has surged, and the export of vaccines has begun to be restricted, disrupting the global supply chain.
As early as January this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the world was facing a "catastrophic moral failure" due to the unequal distribution of new crown vaccines.
While the rich countries "monopolizes" the rapid injection of vaccines, India and other countries are already in short supply and can only allow the virus to continue to evolve.
According to analysis, "vaccine nationalism" will extend the duration of the pandemic and ultimately harm itself.