Covid-19 virus has thrown our lives out of gear. Its lock-down, no doubt delays economic revival. The impact and effect of extension of lock-down, adversely affect the economic activity and causes depression due to reduced money-making movements. It is disastrous to the people who survive on daily earnings; living from hand to mouth. People are dying; they are here today and gone tomorrow. Which comes first, the hen or the egg? If the hands that work go on dying, say the exodus to eternity is at the rate of fifty per day, who will do the golden economic work of development and progress? It will be like killing the hen that lays the golden egg. So, what is to be done? Nothing can be more important than the health of the people living in the State. Therefore, immunisation of citizens is priority and swelling of government’s depleted-coffers is posterity --- afterwards.
Save the living by aiming at herd immunity first and then only think of salvaging economic prosperity. Give government grants to expedite the production and supply of vaccine at optimum level so that there is no postponement of dates for those who have already taken the first and are waiting to take the second injection. The revised time interval --- the gap between the two doses of Covishield has been increased, perhaps, on the ground of shortage of vaccines. Is something wrong with the vaccine or something wrong with shortages? Or is there some orchestration before the election which is fast approaching? We do not know. God alone knows. But shortage leads to all fears; all frights; silent cries; according to some wild imagination it is unholy lies. It is confusing! How, can a country like India, which has been one of the world’s biggest vaccine producers, be hit by shortage of vaccine?
Some seafarers are receiving calls from their companies asking them to join the ships by taking both doses. If seafarers are not vaccinated on time they will lose their job. Therefore, seafarers should be vaccinated on priority basis is one argument. The second argument is that there are many people who are working on land. Some have taken the first inoculation and are waiting for the second jab; others have not even taken the first dose of vaccine. All of them urgently need the vaccine; because no one knows who are on ‘Death’s Hit List’. If some of them are not given the vaccine on priority basis some families will lose their only earning member.
The wise say that each and every Goan should have equal rights to get vaccinated and get back to work; but priority for some and not for others is selfishness. It is dividing people; bringing smiles on some faces and tears in someone else’s eyes.
Sir Winston Churchill, the famous statesman said prior to the Indian Independence in 1947, “Power will go in the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters, all Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in squabbles.” How prophetic he was even to this day.