COVID 19 – The fight against the deadly virus continues

Article written by :
Dr. Sinchan Bhattacharyya
Chief Executive – Medical Admin
Peerless Hospital

Cases of a form of pneumonia of unknown cause were first reported in the city of Wuhan, China in the month of December 2019.Later it was mentioned that a novel corona virus (SARS Cov2) may be the cause of the disease. This particular strain of the novel corona virus had not been identified before as mentioned by researchers across the world. The outbreak of novel corona virus was declared a public health emergency of International concern in the month of January 2020 by World Health Organization (WHO). In the month of March 2020, the rapid increase in the number of cases across the globe led WHO to announce that the outbreak can be characterised as a pandemic. A year has passed by and the fight against the disease still continues.
Since the onset of the disease, doctors have used various medications to treat patients. Sometimes succeeding and sometimes losing patients due to the deadly virus. It has been a mixed experience and it still continues. Researchers are still working on developing medications for cure. A special mention is required on development of the vaccine for COVID 19 which has been developed in a span of just few months. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an established study about the structure and function of corona viruses causing diseases like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which enabled accelerated development of various vaccine technologies during early 2020. The urgency to create a vaccine led to compressed schedules which shortened the standard vaccine development timeline. Two vaccines had received approval for emergency use in India at the onset of the program, which included Covishield manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (a version of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine) and Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research.
The administration of the two vaccines started in India on 16th January 2021. We have already administered the vaccine to more than 14 crore people in India, starting with the frontline healthcare workers, senior citizens with or without co-morbidities and the age group above 45 years. We are still vaccinating and will continue vaccinating until the whole population of India is covered. This procedure might take more time, as we are a nation with a huge population.
Like the frontline healthcare workers who are working day and night in treating COVID positive patients, the vaccine manufacturers are also working day and night to fulfil the requirement of vaccine, not only to the Indian nationalists, but also to the people of others parts of the globe. Hence please vaccinate yourself once your turn comes. Getting vaccinated will help you to fight against the disease and prevent severe complications which may occur due to SARS Cov2 infection.
Present scenario – We in India are presently going through the second phase of COVID 19 infection. We have seen a rapid rise in the number of cases in the past few weeks. It is a request to the population of India to please maintain strict protocols as per last year, to stop the spread of the disease in the second phase. We have succeeded previously in stopping its spread to the minimum and we can do it once again. I would also like to mention that, even if you are vaccinated, it would still be mandatory to follow the same protocols like an unvaccinated person. Hence, please wear a mask, maintain social distancing and wash your hands frequently before touching your facial openings. So let’s keep safe distance, yet remain connected and fight together against this deadly infectious disease.