India will focus on mass vaccination to counter second Covid wave–no lockdown will be implemented

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India has decided to press the pedal on mass vaccination as it marks one year of an unprecedented national lockdown, a step taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the spread of Coronavirus. Though there are murmurs of another such stringent measure coming your way as Covid 19 cases in the country have once again started to rise, reliable sources said there would be no lockdown. They added that state governments of district administations could implement "some restrictive measures" to contain the spread.  </p>
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Underlining that the focus will be solely on economic revival, the sources assured that no steps will be taken that would impact businesses.</p>
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In a year, dynamics related to the virus have changed. “At the start, India much like the world was trying to figure out the virus and how it was playing. Today, in one year, things are different, we are in control though the cases are rising. Cases of hospitalization have come down,” a senior doctor at one of the private hospitals said.</p>
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Fatality rate has also dropped significantly.</p>
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A State Bank of India report said that though global Covid-19 experience shows second wave is much higher in intensity than the first wave, “the presence of vaccine makes the difference currently.” It added that India will be able to manage the situation better due to the Covid 19 vaccines. The report noted that if on an average if 40-45 people are administered the vaccine daily, then it would take just about four months for the entire population above the age of 45 years to be vaccinated.</p>
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The report also said that localised lockdowns or restrictions have proved to be ineffective and have failed in controlling the spread of infection. “This is visible in case of many states including Maharashtra and Punjab,” it said.</p>
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“We may have some localised restrictions, curfews at nights or weekends at the most depending on the state governments and district administration but there will be no national level lockdown which will dent economic activities. We have the vaccine now and the situation is very different from what it was one year ago,” an insider said requesting anonymity.</p>