The latest surge in the Covid-19 virus could take the country's total of 630,000 cases and over 13,800 deaths far higher. To add to the problems, the new variant of the virus is both more fatal and spreads more quickly than the previous variant of the coronavirus. The threat then is far greater. A meeting of the NCOC held on Monday morning has decided that SOPs already imposed in the country need to be implemented far more forcefully and measures taken to ensure people follow them. District administrations and other institutions are to be informed on this and given due instructions. The SOPs so far in place include a closure of markets by 6pm each evening, a move that traders are resisting, a ban on indoor weddings, and a shutdown of schools and educational institutions.
However, the rapid pace of infections demands a much more stringent approach to tackling this challenge. As a complete lockdown was never an option that the government considered seriously, at least an immediate and smart lockdown is called for. We understand that schools have remained closed for months and private schools are up in arms against prolonged closures. But we must be clear in our priorities. No education can be a replacement for a healthy child. Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has said that a decision on whether the closure of schools could be prolonged would be taken on Wednesday. A delay in closing markets and schools will result in further upsurge in the number of infections.
Essentially, with people still hesitant to follow SOPs, the only solution appears to be a far faster rollout of the vaccine programme. Pakistan's vaccine delivery has so far been far slower than that of either India or Bangladesh. This is a matter of grave concern given that health experts across the world agree that vaccination is the only way to stop the pandemic in its track and to prevent further dangerous mutations. In this situation, apart from the government-arranged Sinopharm stocks, prices have been fixed by DRAP for both the Russian Sputnik V and CanSino, a Canadian-Chinese vaccine, both brought in via the private sector. The government also plans to import more doses of the CanSino vaccine. However, as we wait for cabinet approval of these prices for the vaccine which will then become commercially available, another problem has emerged, with the company which imported Sputnik V saying it is not satisfied with the DRAP pricing. Pakistan is one of the very few countries in the world to commercially sell the Covid vaccine. We must understand that people cannot pay thousands of rupees for vaccination; if there are let’s say five members in a family how they are supposed to spend nearly 50,000 rupees on vaccination. The government must come up with a programme to offer free vaccination to almost all citizens of Pakistan, as is happening in other countries.