Vaccination is the only way to beat Covid-19
The world needs to keep its guard up and vaccinate with speed to save lives
Latest alarming reports of a significant spike in Covid-19 cases in some countries may not bring back the lockdowns or roll back most of the relaxed measures. But they certainly show the need to speed up the vaccination drives worldwide as the jab represents our only way out of this vicious cycle.
The Department of Health in the UK has reported that 223 people died of coronavirus on Tuesday, the biggest toll since March this year. It also a huge spike from the 45 deaths reported a day earlier. Meanwhile, the UK has registered a daily average 45,000 new cases for the past 10 days. On Monday, the number of infections reached nearly 50,000, a record for the past six months.
Meanwhile, in Russia, media reports said on Tuesday that the government proposed a weeklong workplace shutdown as the national death toll from Covid-19 hit yet another daily high. The national coronavirus task force reported 1,015 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. On the same day, 33,740 new infections were registered by authorities.
Maximum efforts
Both countries have done very well in introducing vaccination programmes. Despite the efforts by the Russian authorities to speed up the pace of vaccinations, widespread vaccine scepticism may have hindered those efforts — today the percentage of the population that is fully vaccinated stands at 32 per cent. That is well below the rate in many counties. Countries that have achieved a significant rate of vaccination seems to have not only flattened the curve of infections but are increasingly able to bring back life to near normalcy. For example, in the UAE where a staggering 20 million plus vaccine doses have been administered with a population of less than 10 million people, life is steadily getting back to pre-pandemic nature: students are back in schools, most employees are at work, and thousands continue to flock the largest public event in the world, Expo2020 Dubai.
For more than a year, doctors and WHO officials pleaded with nations to speed up the vaccination process and not to allow the vaccine-sceptics and the conspiracy theorists to jeopardise the lives of millions. To remain vigilant, wearing the face mask and exercising caution in crowded places is a necessary. But there is no alternative to the vaccine to beat this deadly virus.