Dear Express Explained Reader, The government this week increased the interval between the two doses of the Covishield vaccine to 12-16 weeks. While several experts had long advocated an extended interval, the government chose to recognise the scientific evidence in favour only after it had become clear to most people that there was no fast, easy way out of the crippling vaccine crunch. Meanwhile, many of you wrote seeking answers to questions around the vaccination process for those who had — and had not — been infected with the coronavirus. Anuradha Mascarenhas addressed some of those questions. The hopeful development on the vaccine front this week was the “soft launch” of the Russian-made Sputnik V. A small consignment has been cleared, and shots should be available at least in some hospitals in a number of cities across India from the middle of next month. Prabha Raghavan wrote about the rollout plan, and what you will have to pay in case you decide to take the jab. Also this week, the government announced a vaccine acquisition roadmap that said more than 2 billion doses would be available for Indians by the end of this year. That is a staggering number — and it is still on paper. Kaunain Sheriff M added some perspective to the government’s claim, a necessary reality check as we continue to hope for speedy progress of the mass vaccination programme. To overcome the shortage of vaccines, several states, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, have expressed their intention to import supplies from abroad. While that remains, as Prabha explained, a rather long shot, the Punjab government went a step further and announced it had decided to join COVAX, the World Health Organisation-led global initiative to provide equitable and affordable access to Covid-19 vaccines to countries around the world. Amitabh Sinha explained why this effort may end up going nowhere. The vaccine crisis apart, the spread of the disease itself has been slowing over the last 10 days or so — the major reason being the total or partial lockdowns in place across the country. Amitabh crunched the numbers for a big picture status report: we may be close to the peak, or near it, in this current wave, but it is a very high peak, and the journey down will likely be long and slow. Finally, you must have read or heard about the mysterious “black fungus” disease that is being reported in increasingly large numbers of Covid-19 patients across India. The disease, mucormycosis, is caused by a group of moulds known as mucormycetes that are present naturally in the environment. It mainly affects those who are on medication that reduces their ability to fight environmental pathogens. Anuradha put together a very helpful piece on the fungal disease, what happens when someone contracts it, and how it can be treated. Do read — one more depressing but essential bit of information to deal with our extraordinary times. Please stay safe. While the Covid curve has begun to flatten, at least for this second surge, we are not out of the woods yet. And given the slow pace of vaccination, we will be opening ourselves up to risk again almost as soon as lockdown restrictions begin to be lifted. Keep the mask on; preferably double mask if you have to step out for something unavoidable. 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 | .png)
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