Illustration by Radia Durrani
“Khatra abhi tala hai, lekin poori tarha se khatam nahin hua [The danger has subsided, but hasn’t fully ended yet],” warned the recorded message Pakistanis would hear when calling their loved ones on the phone. A fourth wave could be around the corner, said Chief of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar, urging people to encourage those over 50 years of age to get vaccinated.
But despite the warnings, the increasing threat of the Delta variant, first detected in India, and international travel restrictions on Pakistanis, blatant violations of SOPs (standard operating procedures) continued. Soon enough, Sindh announced its decision to reimpose restrictions.
That s why, as Guterres noted last week, progress on vaccinations has been uneven and unfair. Shockingly, although 130 countries have not received even a single dose of vaccine, 10 countries have already administered 75 per cent of all vaccines.
Africa will receive 90 million vaccine doses by the end of this month, enough to cover only 3 per cent of its population. Fortunately, amid the scramble for vaccine,s which has seen the rich go for more than their fair share , there are a few voices of reason.
They include Guterres who has called for more equitable distribution of vaccines; Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore, who has warned that to get out of the pandemic we have to ensure everyone accesses vaccines, including those in conflict zones; French President Emmanuel Macron, who has asked the US and European nations to allocate up to 5 per cent of current vaccine supplies to developing countries; and World Health Organisation Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti,