Lancet blames Centre for Covid crisis, says it ignored warnings

NEW DELHI: An editorial in medical journal Lancet has blamed the central government for the ongoing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis in the country, holding it responsible for “allowing superspreader” religious and political events and slowing down the vaccination campaign.

The editorial said that the government gave the impression that India had “beaten Covid-19” despite the sero-surveillance done by Indian Council of Medical Research showing that only 21% of the population was exposed to the viral infection.

“Despite warnings about the risks of superspreader events, the government allowed religious festivals to go ahead, drawing millions of people from around the country, along with huge political rallies—conspicuous for their lack of Covid-19 mitigation measures. The message that Covid-19 was essentially over also slowed the start of India’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign, which has vaccinated less than 2% of the population. At the federal level, India’s vaccination plan soon fell apart,” the editorial said. It added the government also ignored “several” warnings about the dangers of a second wave. “Before the second wave of cases began to mount in early March, Indian Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan declared that India was in the “endgame” of the epidemic. The impression from the government was that India had beaten Covid-19 after several months of low case counts, despite repeated warnings of the dangers of a second wave and the emergence of new strains. Modelling suggested falsely that India had reached herd immunity, encouraging complacency and insufficient preparation,” the editorial said.