Dear Express Explained Reader, The vaccine is here, and those most deserving of being the first in line have started to receive the shot. Let us hope that we are able to move fast to extend protection to all of the elderly and most vulnerable Indians and, ultimately, to each one of us who wants to be inoculated. A day before the launch of the mass inoculation programme, Kaunain Sheriff M put together all of the practical information that we have about the exercise as of now — the general guidelines, the contraindications determining who cannot be administered the vaccine, and what to expect by way of adverse events, if at all any occur. We also wrote two other Covid-related explainers this week — one dealing with therapeutics, and the other on an interesting economic fallout of this unprecedented situation. Tabassum Barnagarwala explained some of the issues around the use of arthritis drugs to treat patients of Covid-19 — it’s a line of treatment that has been both extolled and rejected over the course of the past months, and which has just received a fresh certificate of merit from researchers in a large new study. Avinash Nair wrote a very interesting article on the sudden flurry of activity at Alang, a port in Gujarat where ships go to die. The pandemic has hit the cruise liner business especially hard, and in a little under two months, three giant luxury vessels have docked at Alang to be broken up. Perhaps the story that garnered the most interest this week was about WhatsApp, the messaging service that for many of us is synonymous with communication itself. Given the chatter around WhatsApp “stealing” people’s privacy, and the consequent spike in interest and downloads of Signal, Nandagopal Rajan and Shruti Dhapola asked — and answered — the questions that everyone is worried about. WhatsApp, probably a little rattled, has now given users until May 15 to accept its new privacy policy — but you may, after you read Nandu’s and Shruti’s piece, be able to make up your mind very much sooner than that. This month, India started a new two-year term at the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member. What is its significance? What did India achieve in its seven previous stints at the UN high table, and what should we expect this time? Shubhajit Roy answered these questions and some more. As always, stay safe. The arrival of the vaccine is a moment to celebrate, but the celebration need not mean having to rip the masks off. Sincerely, Monojit (monojit.majumdar@expressindia.com) If you received this newsletter as a forward, you can subscribe to it here | Do read our Explained articles here 
Quixplained: Where wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant needs work | .png)
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