First Wave and the Aftermath: What Went Wrong
Chander Sangra
Henry Ford once said, “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” The experience alone does not necessarily lead to learning; it is the reflection that makes sense of the experience to us and hence makes the experience meaningful for us. John Dewey rightly observed, “We don’t learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” If we had reflected on the experiences from the first wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic, we wouldn’t have been facing it as it stands now. It is hard to believe that a country which surprised the world by swaying the spread dramatically is facing a disparate scenario in the second phase. While the epidemiologists confidently predicted millions of deaths by August 2020, India remained focused and unitedly fought the battle under a strong leadership at the centre along with the collective hardships of the entire government machinery across the nation. Looking at
Shares of pharmaceutical companies are in demand at the bourses with Nifty Pharma and the S&P BSE Healthcare indices gaining 2 per cent each and hitting their respective all-time highs on Tuesday as a significant resurge in Covid-19 cases across India led to spike in demand for Covid-related drugs.
Individually, Cipla, Gland Pharma, JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Max Healthcare, Neuland Laboratories and Apollo Hospital Enterprises hit their respective record highs today. Menawhile, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Cadila Healthcare, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Panacea Biotech and RPG Lifesicenes are among those that hit 52-week highs in the intra-day trade today.
Investors rushed to buy pharma stocks as the Indian government will open up vaccination to anyone over 18 years of age starting May 1 with greater flexibility on pricing, procurement and administration of vaccines. This opens up the private market for vaccination and provides more leeway to states and private companies.
Delhi HC issues notice to Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, seeks details of vaccine capacity timesnownews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timesnownews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
10% COVID-19 vaccines will be wasted, says Centre; to cost Rs 1,320 crore more
Initial 30 crore vaccinations (60 crore doses) planned by the Centre would have cost Rs 13,200 crore. However, need for 66 crore doses raises the cost by Rs 1320 crore
The Centre plans to launch what PM Modi described as the world s biggest vaccination programme in the next one-two weeks
At least 10 per cent of Covid-19 vaccines procured by the Centre may face programmatic wastage , according to the vaccination plan guidelines released by the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs Ministry. This means nearly 10 in every 100 vaccines the Centre will buy from approved vaccine makers such as Serum Institute & Bharat Biotech may suffer damage in different phases of vaccine management. Also, the Centre will have to order 110 vaccines to vaccinate 50 people, considering a two-dose regime and 10 per cent wastage . The wastage of vaccines, despite limited stock available initially, is bound to hamper vaccina