COVID-19 pandemic in India

The first case of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic in India was reported on 30 January 2020, originating from China.

COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India

• A pandemic thrives on human inequities and it is inextricable from the society, economy, knowledge, and politics of human existence. During any infection outbreak such as COVID–19, it is the poorer and weaker fractions of a society that remain disproportionately affected and ultimately bear an additional burden of early death. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a complete lockdown for 21 days on March 24th as an extraordinary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus. This measure suddenly brought our informal sector to a screeching halt, putting all our informal workers in the midst of a medical and economic crisis. The government was not able to handle the economic fallout for the poor.
  • Surya Gupta and Armin Rosencranz, COVID-19, the Government’s Response, and India’s Sustainable Development Goals (May 22, 2020), edited by Tim Zubizarreta, JURIST

• Preferably, the government should have anticipated that after it unilaterally declared a complete lockdown (first phase), millions of informal workers would suddenly lose every way of earning their livelihoods and would be rendered penniless. This would inevitably trigger a mass exodus among the poor informal sector workers, forcing almost one-third of the 1.3 billion people who are living a hand-to-mouth existence, to gather on the streets and trek back home with their belongings. The state also took two days to announce a paltry sum of Rs. 1.7 lakh crores as economic relief to the informal workers who have been turned refugees overnight. This is only 0.5% of the national income if existing budgetary allocations are taken into account. This is an insidious form of assault on the well-being and physical and mental security of the poor population of India, especially so when they are already outside the social security net because they do not fall within the organized sector.
  • Surya Gupta and Armin Rosencranz, COVID-19, the Government’s Response, and India’s Sustainable Development Goals (May 22, 2020), edited by Tim Zubizarreta, JURIST

• The COVID-19 outbreak is yet another demonstration of how the Indian poor are systematically excluded from the government’s policy-making. A case in point is the government’s failure to account for the 40 million poor and homeless children before declaring the lockdown.
  • Surya Gupta and Armin Rosencranz, COVID-19, the Government’s Response, and India’s Sustainable Development Goals (May 22, 2020), edited by Tim Zubizarreta, JURIST

• No doubt, extending the lockdown was necessary, but so was making transportation and other arrangements for the poor. [...] The COVID–19 episode in India has proved that, to date, the voices of the poor are unheard in the decision-making and policies that affect them the most. Further, data and evidence regarding them are least likely to be considered by the government when framing policies.
  • Surya Gupta and Armin Rosencranz, COVID-19, the Government’s Response, and India’s Sustainable Development Goals (May 22, 2020), edited by Tim Zubizarreta, JURIST

• Irrespective of whether you are a freelance humanitarian or a freelance patriot, a fact that is beyond dispute is that the country treats its poor very badly. Across India, in the name of fighting a pandemic, India has beaten up its poor, denied them their livelihood, made them run behind trucks for food, and forced thousands of families to walk hundreds of kilometres to their villages, letting some people die on the way. A few days ago, more than a dozen men travelled inside a cement mixer to escape detection.
  • Manu Joseph, Why India should treat its poor as though they are rich, 10 May 2020, Livemint

• The threat from a rapid diffusion of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) initially threatened to become India’s most severe health crisis since the Spanish Flu, which killed almost 15 million people a century ago. Increasingly, however, it is spiraling into an economic crisis and could easily spin out of control into a humanitarian crisis. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech conveyed a clear sense of the gravity of the situation. Given the structural constraints — India’s population density, weak health and sanitation infrastructure, and limited resources more generally — the need to slow the spread of infection is paramount. Whether the decision to lockdown the country for 21 days should have come earlier, should have been made with more preparation, should have been longer or shorter in duration, will be intensely debated, but its need is unequivocal.
  • Devesh Kapur, In times of a Covid-19 lockdown, protecting lives and livelihoods (March 27, 2020), Hindustan Times

• At the same time, given India’s population density, the cramped and squalid conditions in which tens of millions people live, not only will social distancing have limited effectiveness (household members of every infected person will be at high risk), but the loss of livelihoods and access to basic necessities will impose significant human costs. The short-term tradeoff between lives and livelihoods is manifest and nobody really knows where the precise balance lies. Too limited a lockout period risks the lives of potentially hundreds of thousands of people; too restrictive a lockout could result in the eruption of serious social unrest.
  • Devesh Kapur, In times of a Covid-19 lockdown, protecting lives and livelihoods (March 27, 2020), Hindustan Times

• Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly announced an unprecedented three-week lockdown for India’s 1.3 billion people, setting off a rash of panic buying and creating confusion about how the millions of poor Indians in the country’s informal sector are supposed to support themselves. The lockdown has left vast numbers of migrant workers stranded and hungry. Reports of police abuses quickly surfaced.
  • Joshua Keating, Strongman Medicine: Suspicious Numbers and Brutal Quarantines (April 02, 2020), Slate

• The lockdown and its humanitarian consequences have begun to fundamentally challenge the mind-set and modalities of India’s welfare architecture. We can no longer afford to live with or simply look away from the exclusion ‘errors’ of the past. Many of the most painful and humiliating effects of the lockdown are likely to remain simply unacknowledged, let alone adequately accounted for or compensated. But, ensuring that people have enough food and cash to survive the crisis should remain non-negotiable. [...] The lesson we are learning now is that for India to actually release the grain to citizens, she requires the entire system to go against the grain of deeply entrenched state beliefs and practices. After decades of distrust, it’s time to cultivate some moral fibre.
  • Mekhala Krishnamurthy, Flaws of India’s welfare system are visible in our fight against Covid-19 (8 May, 2020), co-written with Arkaja Singh, ThePrint

• The 40-day lockdown was further extended at a time of sporadic expressions of resistance and anger by migrant workers in a few cities. Extreme precarity doesn’t have a singular expression. While some are responding with anger, others are responding with resignation. The severe distress among migrant workers in India is not entirely by chance. It has been marinating for a while but the epic new scale has been manufactured due to the unplanned and unilateral decision of a lockdown taken by the prime minister. The arbitrariness and unpreparedness are evident from the confusing messages from the central government concerning transport for migrants. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an order on April 29 permitting inter-state travel for workers who want to return home and instructed the states to appoint nodal officers to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Thereafter the MHA issued another order on May 1 stating that “passenger movement by trains, except for security purposes or for purposes as permitted by MHA” was to be prohibited. This was followed by another order on May 3, which stated: “it is clarified that the MHA orders are meant to facilitate movement of stranded persons who had moved from their native places/ workplaces, just before the lockdown period…” Through these orders, the MHA has taken refuge in obfuscation. Notwithstanding the confusing orders, the constant shuffling of travel modes and costs further expose the central government’s lack of empathy, thought and planning. We present a highly generous estimate for the total travel cost by trains. If all of 6.5 crore inter-state migrants (Ravi Srivastava’s estimate of the number of migrants) were to return, and assuming an average ticket fare of Rs 650, the total travel cost comes to around Rs 4,200 crore. To put this number in perspective, the cost of the Statue of Unity in Gujarat is reportedly Rs 3,000 crore. The PM-Cares as per news reports from early April had Rs 6,500 crore.
  • Rajendran Narayanan, Locked down in distress (May 9, 2020), co-written with Sakina Dhorajiwala, Indian Express Limited

• The migrant worker distress has also exposed the inherent fractures of the “one nation” narrative that is one of the unique selling propositions of the BJP government. While it goes against the grain of the idea of India that has a rich tradition of pluralism, it is also meaningless from a governance standpoint. Migrant workers don’t carry their ration cards and so haven’t been able to avail of government rations in the states where they are stranded. The employers, contractors mostly, have largely abandoned them without paying them wages. Consequently, they are left to scrounge for food and are left without money. In many cases, they are stranded without knowing the local language. In this situation, it is the poorer state governments of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, etc. that have attempted to seek out “their people” stranded in richer states such as Maharashtra or Haryana and make cash transfers to their account. The economies of these richer states have benefited from the labour of migrants from the poorer states. However, the richer states have neither extended any financial support nor forced employers to pay wages to the workers. Worse still, on May 5, Chief Minister of Karnataka, B S Yediyurappa, cancelled trains for migrant workers from Bengaluru to their home states. The decision was taken after a meeting between the chief minister and the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI). Neither migrant workers nor trade unions representing them were consulted. This was not only insensitive but a violation of the right to live with dignity (Article 21), right to freedom of movement (Article 19) and prohibition of forced labour (Article 23). The government decided to restore the train services only after protests.
  • Rajendran Narayanan, Locked down in distress (May 9, 2020), co-written with Sakina Dhorajiwala, Indian Express Limited

• Barring examples from Kerala and Telangana, most host states have demonstrated disregard for migrant workers. It behooves the host states to care about the migrant workers not only from a humanitarian standpoint but also from the perspective of the health of the economy. On its part, the central government has maintained a calibrated silence regarding this. Monopolising decisions and socialising losses are not what federalism is supposed to mean. Therefore, it is time that the poorer states realise that the unilateral lockdown is not just an assault on the dignity of the poor, but also an economic assault on the poorer state governments. Further, there has been a concerted effort by the central government and some host states to hold the labour captive in the richer states by making transportation procedures unreasonable.
  • Rajendran Narayanan, Locked down in distress (May 9, 2020), co-written with Sakina Dhorajiwala, Indian Express Limited

• This is as much a socio-economic inequality issue as much as a public health dilemma. After the dust settles and restrictions are relaxed, the win-alls as well as others lying towards the more privileged end of the means spectrum should be able to hop straight back to their routines with their health, wealth and job security intact. The lose-alls and those proximate to that extreme will be more susceptible to illnesses, loss of income and job insecurity – and quite likely all three together. The latter group is trapped in an adverse equilibrium with the unjust choices of risking their health if they go to work, risking their income if they don’t go to work, and risking their employment if the COVID-19 lockdown continues.
  • Neethi P., How the Coronavirus Outbreak Is Also a Socio-Economic Inequality Issue, 23 March 2020, co-written with Anant Kamath, The Wire

• Today, a pandemic. Tomorrow, a natural disaster, a chemical spill or some socio-political unrest. There’s always some disruption around the corner. So for as long as informal jobs are the norm in our economy and as long as we cannot practically lockdown the entire country, the way ahead is to install measures to improve social security. State and society cannot throw up their hands in helplessness or stay blind to variations in vulnerability among informal workers. It must facilitate structural changes through dialogues in policy, academia and other spheres. There is no single solution, especially not just direct monetary transfers. Solutions should include, as Kerala has demonstrated, delivering meals to homes with children and the aged and creating employment insurance options for informal workers. A drivers’ association in Bengaluru has requested Karnataka to waive some part of their taxi loans during the outbreak period as a form of assistance and to help mitigate their indebtedness. The government’s advisories about restricting social contact are indeed important but such measures are economically risky for so many who face a choice between the devil and the deep-sea. Social distancing is impractical for the tens of millions without social security.
  • Neethi P. and Anant Kamath, How the Coronavirus Outbreak Is Also a Socio-Economic Inequality Issue, 23 March 2020, The Wire

• The vast majority of India’s poor rely on daily wage labour for sustenance. With the current lockdown and its likely extension, millions of daily labourers and their families can no longer earn the money they need to survive. In this unprecedented situation, the Indian state must respond swiftly to prevent widespread acute hunger. [...] The health and economic threats posed by the pandemic are unprecedented: India must capitalise upon its preparedness to address food insecurity and prioritise food distribution to protect the health and welfare of its most vulnerable citizens.
  • Rohini Pande, Simone Schaner and Charity Troyer Moore , Food before cash: Because PMJDY cash transfers will exclude many of India’s poorest (May 11, 2020), The Indian Express

• Migrant workers, dismissed by employers, enjoying no protection from their governments, often thrown out of their accommodation by their landlords, in urgent need of food, transport and money, driven by desperation to walk home. It is a scene many have described as reminiscent of the migration at Partition. This is the outcome of the largest and one of the strictest lockdowns in the world enforced during the coronavirus disease crisis — a lockdown that has been widely applauded internationally. Why has the outcry against this suffering inflicted on men and women who are more than 90% of India’s workforce been so muted? It is, I believe, in part at least, because those in a position to raise their voices have not identified themselves with those who are suffering.
  • Mark Tully, India’s migrant workers deserve better than this, writes Mark Tully (May 09, 2020), Hindustan Times.

• Today, the poor are bearing most of the burden of India’s lockdown, one of the harshest in the world. The policies are made or influenced by a class of people who pay little attention to the consequences for the underprivileged. Just think, for instance, of how all sorts of basic services have been shut down without batting an eyelid: outpatient health services, child immunisation, school meals, MNREGA worksites, the lot. For good measure, the policies are often enforced in an authoritarian manner. Ideally, people should be empowered to face this crisis together, instead of being treated like sheep. Here in Jharkhand, I have been struck by so many people’s readiness to help in one way or another. But this good will is not being tapped. This mirrors India’s long-standing failure to foster and mobilise human resources for development. Kerala is one exception, and sure enough, it is handling this crisis in an inspiring manner.
  • Jean Drèze, Lockdown & Labour Pain: The Demand for MNREGA Work Has Never Been so Strong, Says Economist Jean Dreze (May 1, 2020), News18.

• The lockdown and its humanitarian consequences have begun to fundamentally challenge the mind-set and modalities of India's welfare architecture. We can no longer afford to live with or simply look away from the exclusion 'errors' of the past. Many of the most painful and humiliating effects of the lockdown are likely to remain simply unacknowledged, let alone adequately accounted for or compensated. But, ensuring that people have enough food and cash to survive the crisis should remain non-negotiable. [...] The lesson we are learning now is that for India to actually release the grain to citizens, she requires the entire system to go against the grain of deeply entrenched state beliefs and practices. After decades of distrust, it’s time to cultivate some moral fibre.
  • Mekhala Krishnamurthy, Flaws of India’s welfare system are visible in our fight against Covid-19 (8 May, 2020), co-written with Arkaja Singh, ThePrint

2020

February

• The Corona Virus is an extremely serious threat to our people and our economy. My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously. Timely action is critical.
  • Rahul Gandhi in a twitter post in February 12, quoted in Government not taking coronavirus threat seriously: Rahul Gandhi (March 3, 2020), Deccan Herald

March

• There are moments in the life of every nation when its leaders are tested. A true leader would be completely focused on averting the massive crisis about to be unleashed by the virus on India and its economy.
  • Rahul Gandhi, as quoted in ‘True leader’ would focus on averting crisis to be unleashed by coronavirus on India, says Rahul Gandhi (March 03, 2020), Hindustan Times

• As is true for the world at large, India's near-term macroeconomic outlook is also vulnerable to disruption of trade with China and second-round effects arising from expected slowdown in global growth. However, the latest available data on trade and domestic output indicators do not suggest any adverse impact on the economy. Additionally, a positive impact on India's economy may arise from decline in global oil prices triggered by the outbreak of COVID-19.
  • Anurag Thakur on Tuesday, 17 March, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the Indian economy, as quoted in Indian macroeconomic outlook vulnerable to disruption of trade with China: Finance Ministry on coronavirus (March 16, 2020), The Economic Times

• On March 22, at 5 pm stand on your doors and windows for 5 minutes and clap, ring a bell to salute people who are serving the nation tirelessly.
  • Narendra Modi, as quoted in Clap, whistle, ring: PM Modi's mantra on how you can thank those working 24 hours during Covind-19 outbreak, 19 March 2020, India Today

• Clearly, the disparity between the prospects of win-alls and lose-alls maps perfectly with their respective general socio-economic conditions as determined by class, caste and gender identities. The current pandemic can significantly worsen the existing and expanding inequalities in Indian economy and society. Inequalities of health, income and employment even within the informal workforce can expand, with some informal workers at lower risk and others at higher on the three counts. This is as much a socio-economic inequality issue as much as a public health dilemma. After the dust settles and restrictions are relaxed, the win-alls as well as others lying towards the more privileged end of the means spectrum should be able to hop straight back to their routines with their health, wealth and job security intact. The lose-alls and those proximate to that extreme will be more susceptible to illnesses, loss of income and job insecurity – and quite likely all three together. The latter group is trapped in an adverse equilibrium with the unjust choices of risking their health if they go to work, risking their income if they don’t go to work, and risking their employment if the COVID-19 lockdown continues.
  • Neethi P., How the Coronavirus Outbreak Is Also a Socio-Economic Inequality Issue, 23 March 2020, co-written with Anant Kamath, The Wire

• Today, a pandemic. Tomorrow, a natural disaster, a chemical spill or some socio-political unrest. There’s always some disruption around the corner. So for as long as informal jobs are the norm in our economy and as long as we cannot practically lockdown the entire country, the way ahead is to install measures to improve social security. [...] The government’s advisories about restricting social contact are indeed important but such measures are economically risky for so many who face a choice between the devil and the deep-sea. Social distancing is impractical for the tens of millions without social security.
  • Neethi P., How the Coronavirus Outbreak Is Also a Socio-Economic Inequality Issue, 23 March 2020, co-written with Anant Kamath, The Wire

• All leading experts say 21 days is the minimum we require to break the coronavirus transmission cycle. If we are not able to handle these 21 days, the country and your family will go back 21 years and many families will be destroyed. I am saying this not as the Prime Minister but as your family member.
  • Narendra Modi, as quoted in India will be under complete lockdown for 21 days: Narendra Modi (March 25, 2020), The Economic Times

• Responses cannot be one-size-fits-all and will need to be tailored to local needs.
  • Devesh Kapur, In times of a Covid-19 lockdown, protecting lives and livelihoods (March 27, 2020), Hindustan Times

• Applying mathematical models used in the US or UK to India points to a possible 300 million (30 crore) cases, according to Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP). Is there a best-case scenario? "200 million," Laxminarayan said in an interview with India Today TV's Rahul Kanwal... "The problem here is that the ten million severe infections will all happen within a two or three-week window, and will require a lot of intensive care -- and we don't have the systems to handle that much in a short period of time."
  • Ramanan Laxminarayanan, March 2020, India Today. Coronavirus: How many cases will India see? Here's one expert's best-case prediction [1]

April

• On 5th April, we must challenge this darkness. Therefore us 130 crore Indians should at 9 p.m. on April 5 switch off all lights and stand at the door or balcony light up a candle, diya, torch or mobile flashlight for nine minutes. If you switch off all lights at that time, and light these objects, the experience of light and going towards it will be concentrated.
  • Narendra Modi during his address to the Nation, as quoted in Coronavirus | Switch off all lights and light lamps at 9 pm on April 5, says PM Modi (April 3, 2020), The Hindu

• The Satan is using this opportunity as it has always done to lead us astray from our religious duties in the name of precautions, treatment and protection. Whenever a calamity strikes, Satan makes the victims of calamity commit such acts which destroy their rewards and add to their woes. This is the time to populate the mosques and to invite the ummah towards repentance. As I have already said, this is the time to make our supplications effective. This is not the time to pay heed to false remedial measures….
  • Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi the emir of Tablighi Jamaat, March 22, 2020. Transcription and Translation from Urdu by New Age Islam, 5 April 2020

• "I request all, both in India and abroad, to strictly follow the guidelines and instructions of the local or national governments and till the time restrictions are in place and please observe prayers at home. And even in this, we should not invite people from outside"
  • Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi on 20 April 2020

May

• Mere courage and collaboration between our regular citizenry – the medical professionals, researchers and scientists — is insufficient by itself to combat a pandemic such as COVID-19. It is equally important that our governments take quick and robust decisions and implement effective policies.
  • Surya Gupta and Armin Rosencranz, COVID-19, the Government’s Response, and India’s Sustainable Development Goals (May 22, 2020), edited by Tim Zubizarreta, JURIST

• The COVID-19 outbreak is yet another demonstration of how the Indian poor are systematically excluded from the government’s policy-making. A case in point is the government’s failure to account for the 40 million poor and homeless children before declaring the lockdown.
  • Surya Gupta and Armin Rosencranz, COVID-19, the Government’s Response, and India’s Sustainable Development Goals (May 22, 2020), edited by Tim Zubizarreta, JURIST

• No doubt, extending the lockdown was necessary, but so was making transportation and other arrangements for the poor. [...] The COVID–19 episode in India has proved that, to date, the voices of the poor are unheard in the decision-making and policies that affect them the most. Further, data and evidence regarding them are least likely to be considered by the government when framing policies.
  • Surya Gupta and Armin Rosencranz, COVID-19, the Government’s Response, and India’s Sustainable Development Goals (May 22, 2020), edited by Tim Zubizarreta, JURIST

• After the outbreak of Covid-19, one was hoping that the global calamity will be combated on top priority without any consideration of race, ethnicity and religion. But matters took such a turn in India that even the United Nations had to state that race, ethnicity and religion should be no consideration in dealing with the crisis. Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, said late in the day that the Novel Coronavirus does not see the barriers of religions or caste. Even the RSS Chief, though very late in the chronology of events, also said that whole communities should not be targeted for the mistakes of a few. By this time the damage was already done.
  • Ram Puniyani, Combating Hate: Building Bridges of Love, 14 May 2020, NewsClick

• Overall, during the last couple of months, the hate-filled atmosphere has taken a sharp upturn and the popular talk is veering towards shun Muslims and boycotting their trades. This does remind some of the boycott of Jew traders before the "final solution" was put into action in Germany. Already the myths, stereotypes and biases against Muslims in particular and partly against Christians abound in the society. A hate-creation mechanism is already in place. This mechanism has become robust during last few years. The roots of this mechanism are fairly deep and it has been actively nurtured by communal elements. That a human tragedy like Covid-19 could have boosted divisive processes was unthinkable a few years ago.
  • Ram Puniyani, Combating Hate: Building Bridges of Love, 14 May 2020, NewsClick

June

• The health care system will soon be placed in a very difficult situation where they have to make a choice between who to provide care to and who to simply say, 'sorry, we can’t do anything for you'.
  • Vivekanand Jha, as quoted in Bodies Are Being Left in Hospital Beds in Mumbai as Coronavirus Overwhelms India’s Financial Capital (June 1, 2020) by Dhwani Pandya and Ari Altstedter, Time

July

• The moment that the Chinese scientists and doctors announced that the coronavirus could be transmitted between human beings on Jan. 20, 2020, the socialist governments went into action to monitor ports of entry and to test and trace key parts of the population. They set up task forces and procedures to immediately make sure that the infection would not go out of control amongst their people. They did not wait till the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic on March 11.
  This is in stark contrast to governments in the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, India, and other capitalist states, where there has been a hallucinatory attitude towards the Chinese government and the WHO. There is no comparison between the stance of Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and U.S. President Donald Trump: the former had a sober, science-based attitude, while the latter has consistently laughed off the coronavirus as a simple flu as recently as June 24.
  • Vijay Prashad in COVID-19: Why Laos, Vietnam & China Have Beaten the Virus and India, Brazil and the US Have Not, Consortium News (16 July 2020)

August

• A drug to treat head lice and worms will now be administered to Covid-19 patients and those at high risk of infection in Uttar Pradesh. The anti-parasite drug, ivermectin, has been used in clinical trials in Delhi hospitals but Uttar Pradesh is the first to approve its statewide use in the Covid-19 prevention protocol. .. The idea is that its immunomodulation properties — activating the immune system — could help stave off Covid-19. “Ivermectin has been used for several years to treat many infectious diseases … It has low adverse effects. We have been providing the drug to Covid-19 patients in our isolation ward. Positive results were achieved,” said Dr Sanjay Kala, principal of SN Medical College. And the range of its use has been considered worth exploring. “It has antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-cancer properties. It has shown effective results in Covid-19 studies,” said Dr Prashant Prakash, professor of pulmonary medicine at the college.
  • UP approves use of anti-parasite drug for Covid treatment and prevention Deepak Lavania / TNN / Updated: Aug 8, 2020,

November

• Even though Pfizer has created a promising vaccine, the logistics for making it available to every Indian need to be worked out. GOI has to define a vaccine distribution strategy and how it will reach every Indian.
  • Rahul Gandhi, Nov 11, 2020 Also shown in the movie The Vaccine War (2023).

2021

January

• It is the vaccine or vaccines that will win the war against COVID-19, not the government or mythological beliefs.
  • P. Chidambaram, Jan 2021

• What is the problem in giving Pfizer and Moderna vaccines approvals for use in India?
  • Rohini Singh. Jan 3, 2021 [2] Also shown in the movie The Vaccine War (2023).

February

• Why has clearance been denied to Pfizervaccine ? Let all vaccines become available in the market and let consumers decide. “ Atmanirbhar” should not become 1970s style protectionism.
  • — Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) February 6, 2021 pic.twitter.com/aGmPmn993k [3] [4]

April

• Government must immediately provide funds to ramp up production in India and increase supplies. Government must also authorise the use of more approved vaccines and allow their manufacture or import.
  • P. Chidambaram, Apr 2021

• We have a duopoly of two vaccines, but they are hardly sufficient to vaccinate a nation of 138 crore people.
  • P. Chidambaram, Apr 2021

• Pfizer and Moderna are the best vaccines. They have been out since Dec-2020. Why don't we have them in India yet? Do we not deserve the best? Don't we buy defense equipment from abroad? Is this not a war like situation? Why does the vaccine have to be made here and only here?
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) April 28, 2021 [5] [6]

• Remember, we need global help right now to get the vaccines. The person who needs the help cannot have ego. Ego never served anyone anyway, but if we keep ego or fake pride now, when we need help, we won't succeed. Heads down, get to work, source and administer the vaccines.
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) April 28, 2021 [7] [8]

• Oh but why couldn't Pfizer agree to our terms, some say. Well, we needed Pfizer's vaccine more than they needed us. We could have saved lives if we kept our ego down and said 'how can we make it work Pfizer' rather than 'why can't you listen to us.' Lives could have been saved.
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter [9]

• Today, whichever CM will be able to source and vaccinate their entire state will become a national star. Great political opportunity that will save lives too!
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter [10]

• The Pfizer vaccine, one of the best ones, used in most developed countries, applied for permission in India in Dec-2020. India instead asked them to do more studies here. Pfizer withdrew its application in Feb-21. Imagine lives saved if we allowed the vaccine from December itself.
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter [11] Also shown in the movie The Vaccine War (2023).

• We need 70% entire population to get herd immunity. Not just adult population. Virus doesn’t check your Adhaar card. It maybe more than 70% even as the vaccines we’ve used have lower overall efficacy than mRNA vaccines. Define the problem properly to solve it.
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter [12]

• I have a fascination with getting my entire country vaccinated. For that we need all the vaccines we can get and we will need them all. Nothing to do with nation of origin.
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter [13]

• Keep asking on the vaccine plan. How much vaccine? By what date? What %age of pop vaccinated by May 31, June 30,July 31? Real numbers. Abuse me, troll me, demean my work, doubt my intentions, mock me. But keep asking on the vaccine plan. For the sake of my country. 🙏🏻
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter[14]

• Firefighting is good. That's what's happening right now. But solution is in vaccines. Enough vaccines.It's not which vaccine. Our vaccine. Their vaccine. It's enough vaccines. If we don't have enough, mayhem won't stop. Swallow pride. Accept mistakes. Get 'enough' vaccines.
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter [15]

• Top-3 national priorities right now, where the entire country should be focused:
  Vaccine.
  Vaccine.
  Vaccine.
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter [16]

• The best news of the day. Pfizer vaccine (a major trial was under progress) is 90% effective. Victory for science and humanity. Stock markets soaring across the world. Seems like the real deal this time.
  • — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter[17]

• World’s leading vaccine manufacturer, now vaccine shortage across states. No vaccinations in Mumbai for next 3 days. So much for starting 18 plus vaccine drive from May 1. On vaccines, Centre has made just too many botch ups. Will anyone say Mea culpa?
  • Rajdeep Sardesai Apr 30, 2021 [18]

May

• The Modi government is callous and cruel. Meanwhile, the shortage of vaccines will continue and the people will suffer and thousands will die. What a tragedy!
  • P. Chidambaram · May 24, 2021 [19]

• If Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have not yet been ‘approved for use’ by the central government, how will they deal with or sell to the states? Government has rebuffed our advice as well as the suggestion of the Courts, that procurement of vaccines must be centralised.
  • P. Chidambaram [20] May 24, 2021 Also shown in the movie The Vaccine War (2023).

• Both Pfizer and Moderna refuse to deal with states, say they will only deal with Centre even as their order books are full for now. Can we say that on vaccine procurement we have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity in the last eight months?
  • Rajdeep Sardesai · May 25, 2021 [21]

• We should procure this vaccine asap for our children.
  • Arvind Kejriwal commenting on the Pfizer mRNA-vaccine. Original wording: We shud [sic] procure this vaccine asap for our children.
  • — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 27, 2021, on Twitter [22]

• When will Centre take responsibility for not allowing Pfizer to sell vaccine in India, not ordering Indian vaccines on time, concentrators languishing in Airports & not giving Delhi oxygen leading to deaths all around? When will Centre come in war mode? How many more deaths?
  • Swati Maliwal. May 4, 2021 Also shown in the movie The Vaccine War (2023).

• A year after the country’s first Covid-19 cluster, with 5 cases, was reported in Agra district, the Uttar Pradesh government has claimed that it was the first state to have introduced a large-scale “prophylactic and therapeutic” use of Ivermectin and added that the drug helped the state to maintain a lower fatality and positivity rate as compared to other states.
  • Uttar Pradesh government says early use of Ivermectin helped to keep positivity, deaths low May 12, 2021 Maulshree Seth

• “Uttar Pradesh was the first state in the country to introduce large-scale prophylactic and therapeutic use of Ivermectin. In May-June 2020, a team at Agra, led by Dr Anshul Pareek, administered Ivermectin to all RRT team members in the district on an experimental basis. It was observed that none of them developed Covid-19 despite being in daily contact with patients who had tested positive for the virus,” Uttar Pradesh State Surveillance Officer Vikssendu Agrawal said... He added that based on the findings from Agra, the state government sanctioned the use of Ivermectin as a prophylactic for all the contacts of Covid patients and later cleared the administration of therapeutic doses for the treatment of such patients... He said that apart from aggressive contact tracing and surveillance, the lower positivity and fatality rates may be attributed to the large-scale use of Ivermectin use in the state, adding that the drug has recently been introduced in the National Protocol for Covid treatment and management. “Once the second wave subsides, we would conduct our own study as there has been an emerging body of evidence to substantiate our timely use of Ivermectin from the first wave itself,” Vikasendu told The Indian Express.
  • Uttar Pradesh government says early use of Ivermectin helped to keep positivity, deaths low May 12, 2021 Maulshree Seth

• Agra District Magistrate Prabhu N Singh also attributed the state’s relative success in keeping the Covid numbers down to the timely nod to the use of Ivermectin as a prophylactic... He said the district administration had formed small groups of personnel from the same police station as well staffers at his office. “We introduced it (Ivermectin) for three days, 12 mg as advised in the national guidelines at the time, followed by tests on the fourth or fifth day. We introduced it in the jail as well and the results helped us reduce positivity to a great extent, following which Additional Chief Secretary Health Amit Mohan formed a committee to access its usage and it was finally introduced in the state’s Covid management protocol in 2020 itself,” Singh said.
  • Uttar Pradesh government says early use of Ivermectin helped to keep positivity, deaths low May 12, 2021 Maulshree Seth

June

• India needs quick and complete vaccination - not BJP's usual brand of lies and rhyming slogans to cover up vaccine shortage caused by Modi government’s inaction.
  • Rahul Gandhi on Twitter, June 2021, also quoted in [23]

August

• Rising COVID numbers are worrying. Vaccination must pick up pace to avoid serious outcomes in the next wave.
  • Rahul Gandhi on Twitter, Aug 2021, also quoted in [24]

December

• "People are surprised that only three vaccines have been made available in India: Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik Of the three, you can write off Sputnik because only a small quantity was imported in the initial days," Congress veteran Chidambaram had tweeted on December 27, 2021. "We are left with 2 vaccines thanks to the PROTECTIONIST policy of the Modi Government Pfizer, Moderna and other WHO-approved vaccines are kept out of India on one pretext or other Which is why we don't have enough vaccines to administer 2 doses to the 94 crore adult population."
  • P. Chidambaram on December 27, 2021 [25] [26]

• There is enough research and scholarly writing to conclude that booster shots are an imperative... The time to allow booster shots is NOW
  • P. Chidambaram Dec 22, 2021 [27]

See also

• COVID-19 vaccine
• COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
• COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
• COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba
• COVID-19 pandemic in France
• COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan
• COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom