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I am tired and extremely disoriented: How I got the Chinese virus and lived to tell the tale

Nirwa Mehta
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I am tired and extremely disoriented: How I got the Chinese virus and lived to tell the tale

Disclaimer: Below is my personal experience with COVID. Your symptoms, diagnosis could be different. Please consult a doctor as soon as you notice symptoms. Do not self-medicate. Also, most of this is light-hearted and people mentioned in this post, my family, friends, colleagues and doctors have been nothing but absolutely sweet and supportive as I lost my mind bit by bit through two weeks of torture.

On April 3, 2021, I woke up with slight headache and sore throat. I had just come back from Patna to Ahmedabad on 30th March and attributed it to season change and seasonal flu. People do tend to fall ill during this time as we transition from winter to summer (hello, in Gujarat we do not have spring as a season in reality).

When I travelled to Patna, there were fewer active cases in Bihar than there were in Ahmedabad alone. The ‘second wave’ was yet to hit. It was there only in Maharashtra, where even ‘first wave’ hadn’t gone away and in Kerala, which has had multiple such ‘waves’. Rest of the country was happily oblivious to the monster mutating in our backyard.

Anyway, on 3rd April, at around 1 PM, my mom accidentally touched my elbow and I felt her fingers were very cold. Hmm, that’s odd, I thought. I checked my temperature. It showed 100 degrees fever.

Usually when I get even slight fever, I start feeling uneasy. You know, the general ‘I don’t think I feel too good’ feeling one has with fever. Here, I felt nothing. I wouldn’t have checked my temperature if I didn’t feel my mom’s fingers cold. I took a Crocin.

Two hours later, I checked my temperature again. Not only I had not broken my fever but I now had 101 fever. I was slightly alarmed. I popped in another paracetamol. After three hours, my fever still hadn’t broken. As morbid humour aficionado, I messaged my boss, Rahul Roushan that I have COVID-like symptoms and whether he thinks I am going to die. He replied in affirmation. (please note, this is regular banter and we are not really that hateful towards each other.)

By 4 PM, I was still at 101 fever. Mom got me an old dupatta which I soaked in water and put on my forehead like a triple-layered hijab. I knew something wasn’t right. I informed my team that I will log in to work the next day but I have fever and sore throat and may take longer breaks. By 7 PM my fever came down to 100. I again took one paracetamol before sleeping. I slept like a log and had to struggle to wake up on time on Sunday.

All this while, I never ‘felt’ like I had fever. Even with 101 fever, I felt absolutely normal. Under normal circumstances I would not have bothered checking my temperature, I felt that normal.

Except, any kind of physical movement would make me want to take deep breaths. Walking 5 steps would make me breath heavily.

I have a rare neurological disorder. Hemifacial spasms. Every time a blood vessel forms a loop and touches my fifth cranial nerve, I get a facial spasm which pulls my face on one side (right side) and goes all loopy. It appears like I have a paralysis stroke, but in about 30-40 seconds it becomes normal. It is not life threatening but only ‘cure’ is mood stabilisers which are prescribed for bipolar disorders. Or botox (or surgery).

Mood stabilisers made me want to act on my impulses and I often thought of acting upon risky behaviour like jumping off the roof to see ‘how it feels’ or how would I feel if I let the burning matchstick burn all the way to my fingers. Yea, so I panicked and stopped those medicines. I’d rather live with spasms than go insane.

So, the thing is, many times when I yawn or laugh loudly or I have strong emotions, I get a spasm. COVID increased my spasms because I was constantly taking very deep breaths, triggering my spasms. More on this later.

Sunday, April 4, 2021 I again woke up with 101 fever. By this time I had a feeling I had COVID. I was too tired to type and it was only 8 AM. I could not write quick article that morning. I spent most of the morning just making sure things are ok till my colleagues log in later in the day. I was hoping that by then, the fever would have subsided and it will be just a false alarm.

By 1, I still had 101 fever and I knew something was colossally wrong. I asked my father we should get me tested. My dad, the king of denials, told me everyone is testing positive (as if that is not a cause of concern) and I should start with primary medicine of paracetamol immediately. Now, my dad means well, but in times of such crisis, he tends to get into denial and get slightly dismissive. He had lost some of his closest friends to COVID just few months back, so it was not as if he was a COVID-denier. He just thought we’d sail through without catching the virus.

Anyway. We went to get the antigen test done at one of these booths set up by corporation. Except, it was Sunday and by that time, all booths had closed. Note that second wave crisis was yet to hit Gujarat. Not saying corporation got complacent, but the tests were down because cases were down.

We some how managed to find some place where the tests were being conducted and I finally got tested. 15 agonising minutes later, the corporation fellow told me I’m COVID positive.

Wow. Like a carousel all images flashed in my head trying to think where I might have caught the virus and sense of panic spread over. I informed my team that now that my antigen test has come positive, I’ve to get my RTPCR test done and well, I’m unavailable through the day mostly.

I informed my husband also, who took three hours to read my messages because he was napping. You see, even he had reached Delhi from Patna on 3rd April and was also tired.

That is when the panic set in. I must inform family in Patna that I got the virus so that they could monitor their symptoms (since we don’t know where I caught it) and that is yet another stressor as by this time the ‘second wave’ news are spreading and everyone is reading about only the worst. So now I am about to put dozens of people under stress and have possibly brought the virus home and put them on risk.

I also informed Rahul and Nupur about my testing positive and Rahul was excited that I was the first in team to catch it.

I went to the lab to get my RTPCR done and was told my results could come in 24 hours.

That night, despite incredible stress, I slept like a log. By 9, I was so sleepy I could crash on the sofa.

Monday, April 5, I woke up with my RTPCR results. COVID positive. Ct level 19. I don’t even know what that means. So I look up and start crying that it is I who put my parents at risk of catching the virus. I isolated myself in my room and locked myself.

I again logged in to work thinking it’ll help me from losing my mind. Once my colleague Sanghamitra logged in, I started taking it slow and after more colleagues like K Kashyap logged in I took an extended lunch break where I napped. I just did not have the strength.

Later in the day I informed Rahul and Nupur that I am taking rest of the week off. My fever was still not breaking and I was not sure if things are going to get worse with me.

I also suggested my husband that he should totally get married again if the virus takes me. I also sent recommendations which he immediately rejected with multiple angry emoji faces.

I started binge-watching ISIS-related videos. I know a lot more about ISIS bride Shamima Begum than perhaps her Bangladeshi father also knows about her. I also rewatched Caliphate on Netflix and consoled myself that at least I caught the virus in India and not in Syria where perhaps a bomb would’ve killed me first. I laughed internally at my morbid jokes.

By this time, the ‘second wave’ situation had started worsening across India. Devastating news from across India had started pouring in. I stuck to binge-watching ISIS brides. I was in isolation in my room, locked up. I got curious if you could put oxymeter on your toes and if it detects oxygen levels. It doesn’t.

Next day, I read news how in some place some ventilators or such medical equipments were being transported in vehicles which pick up trash. So that night, I dreamt I have 109 fever and I am being taken to civil hospital in one such vans. I woke up sweating at 3 AM and could not believe I am not in hospital.

This was also the first time I broke into a sweat after getting fever. After this, my fever did not cross 100 but I still had consistent fever for a week more.

On Wednesday, April 7, 4 days after initial symptoms showed up in me, I heard my mom coughing from downstairs. She had a cold too. My worst fears were about to get real. I put my parents at risk by bringing home the virus. The guilt was making me insane. I could not concentrate on anything. Mom dismissed her cold and cough with her usual spring allergies as she did not show fever over 100 for two days. However, she did start taking the medicines which were prescribed to me, without really letting me know. I must reiterate here that do not self-medicate. You are not a doctor, unless you are one.

I am in isolation, unaware of what is happening in the house and on day 5, I lost my sense of smell and taste. I could not taste the coffee in the morning. It was just sweet warm liquid. My food tasted extremely salty. No other taste I could register. And smell, obviously gone.

I thought my condition is worsening and sent more prospective bride options to my husband. I also thought maybe he could rehabilitate some former ISIS bride like Shamima Begum and sent him the suggestion. He finally told me that if the virus takes me, he will not marry again because one has been enough. Too bad, I thought.

Now, a deo I had ordered the previous week got delivered at this time and imagine spraying a deo but not being able to register the smell and you are not sure if you like it or you smell like chameli ka tel. The loss of smell and taste was most disorienting. We then got blood tests done to see if my condition has worsened. Thankfully it had not. I was just showing normal symptoms. Many people lost their sense of smell on 4th-5th day of initial symptoms.

No one tells you this otherwise. Most say that loss of smell is a symptom, but that it sets in on later part of infection, no one says.

And while I struggle with this, my mother continued to self-medicate with paracetamol and continued to go slightly mental and overdid the house cleaning. Now, she is diabetic. Twice in one week, her blood sugar levels dipped (I was not informed) because she was ‘worried about me’. She did not want to get tested because if she did come back positive, she did not want anyone to blame me for infecting her. The logic of moms.

Few days later we had a war of words where we got more family members involved just to get my parents in denial tested. I had no energy to explain why it is important to know whether you are infected so that we can take correct treatment. By this time I was also on the mend with my fever going and I have started feeling much better.

So finally, on 13th April, 10 days after I showed initial symptoms and about 4-5 days after my mom showed initial symptoms, we got tested again. My parents’ antigen test came back negative. But a day later, they tested positive in RTPCR.

Mom’s symptoms were waning but my dad has no symptoms. He was asymptomatic and continued to believe the test results were incorrect because ‘he did not feel it’. However, he did start taking medicines too in consultation with doctors.

Here, I must inform that both of them had taken their first dose of vaccine and were due with their second dose on the day their positive test results came. So, obviously, they did not get their second dose as advised by doctors.

Now, all three were COVID patients. I touched my mom for the first time in 10 days. That was my first human contact in 10 days. I cried a little. Few days later, my asymptomatic father developed symptoms and eventually lost his sense of smell too. Today, however, he was able to register the smell of sabzi my mom was cooking. So he is also on the mend. Mom’s also out of her 14-day period. We will all get tested again maybe after a week once the labs are less stressed. Or maybe not. Doctors say that you need not get negative certificate if symptoms are gone and it has been beyond 21 days.

Remember I told you about my spasms? Well, by now the spams have been so bad that my right side of face constantly feels heavy.

I am now off medicines because no fever, no other symptoms. I am on the mend. I resumed work from April 14. Sanghamitra, my colleague was extremely excited to know I hadn’t died. As were others. Dibakar, in the team was so nervous with all my morbid jokes I think I sent him down a terrible anxiety spiral. I hope he’s not too worried now that I am back yelling at him.

Some of my colleagues got to know I had covid *AFTER* I rejoined. This when I had been cracking morbid jokes all the time in our internal messaging app. I guess we’ve all seen so much death and destruction in past one year that we’ve just kind of become numb and are processing things as they come without registering most of them.

I still haven’t felt the ‘fatigue’ or ‘tiredness’ COVID patients talked about. I thought I got lucky. My smell was returning, slightly.

First two days were fine. I still had some residual medicine effect and didn’t feel anything out of ordinary.

Then, the fatigue hit. The brain fog everyone talks about, that hit. I am disoriented.

For the last one week, I find it really hard to type after first four hours of starting my work day. So if I start my day at 8, by 12/1, I am extremely tired. My speed comes down (and I have published articles on breaking news in 4 minute flat). And it is terrifying. What if I never gain back my speed, strength?

I take time processing multiple instructions. If there is a lot of information, I get so confused I am just not able to comprehend. By 3/4 PM typos and errors creep in my copies and messages and I am too exhausted to correct them. I am too guilty to admit that I am tired and I continue to work because I feel ashamed to come across as weak.

It is day 19 of my initial symptoms. I have an eye infection on right side. It could also be overstressed because of my spasms. My face gets distorted and my eye closes, lips, mouth gets pulled on one side. Some day if I get over my vulnerability I will share my own image and videos of when I get a spasm. Till then YouTube/Google, that’s a pretty accurate representation of my contorted face.

So my eye has constant discharges, my arms are tired, I take too long to process multiple complicated instructions and I can’t sleep. I am awake till 12:30/1 (I usually sleep by 10:30) and force myself to sleep because otherwise I will be up all night and not have mental agility to work the next day.

I again had dry cough in morning with slightly painful throat (like I had on 3rd April) and went into total panic mode. Apparently, this is normal ‘post-COVID recovery symptom’. Like, seriously, what a monster that country has created.

While me and my parents all had similar symptoms, we all have had them differently. I had 101 fever, mom had 100 while dad got fever 2 days after testing positive for COVID. My smell is still returning, mom’s returned in a day and dad’s is now returning after a week of no smell. Most people I know have had similar symptoms at different times in infection, thereby there is no clear-cut way how this virus affects us.

I am terrified that I will not be able to be normal again. What if I am not able to focus or concentrate again? Will I continue to have problems comprehending instructions forever? When will I sleep normally, wake up at regular time, not be tired all the time? AND WHEN WILL RAHUL ROUSHAN BUY ME THE KINDLE UNLIMITED SUBSCRIPTION HE PROMISED IF I SURVIVE COVID?

For now, I just hope and pray that we, as a country get out of this and come out of it stronger and kinder. I am so done with living with this virus.

‘Sterlite Copper can produce over 1000 MT oxygen per day, allow us to open’: Vedanta writes to TN govt, Health Minister

OpIndia Staff
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‘Sterlite Copper can produce over 1000 MT oxygen per day, allow us to open’: Vedanta writes to TN govt, Health Minister

The medical oxygen requirement of India increased 7 times from 700 tonnes per day to 5000 tonnes per day, amid the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic creating a huge disparity in the demand and supply.

Several corporate giants like TATA, Reliance, SAIL, Jindal have started providing medical oxygen by diverting their production.

To bridge this gap, Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper has offered to restart production at its two oxygen plants in the now shut copper smelter at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Vedanta said that the plant contains two oxygen plants with a combined production capacity of 1,050 tonnes of oxygen daily.

The company has sent two separate letters to the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in this regard.

The CEO of Sterlite Copper, Pankaj Kumar, in the letter to the Union Ministry wrote, “We would like to now offer these facilities for your use towards ensuring that there is no lack of this vital commodity in the nation.”

“We would be grateful to be allowed this opportunity to support the nation’s needs. Our staff stands prepared to get these two plants operational in the shortest possible time and begin dispatching oxygen to the critical areas as per your direction,” the letter continued.

The company expressed its desire to “join hands with the commendable efforts of our PM at this critical juncture,” as per the letter.

In another letter directed to CM Palaniswami, the company urged, “One oxygen plant of 500 TPD [tonnes per day] can be operated to meet the critical demand of oxygen in this hour of peril… The Oxygen Plant is presently lying shut owing to the orders passed by the TNPCB and the state government, shutting down the copper smelter unit of the company. This is a humble request to grant us the necessary permission and allow us to run the oxygen plant which will be instrumental in supporting the state governments in these critical times.”

Vedanta has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking permission to produce oxygen at the smelter, which was closed in mid-March 2018.

In an interview to Business Today, a Sterlite Copper spokesperson informed, “We have the capacity to produce liquid oxygen also that can be transported in tankers. We have talked to units in Coimbatore who are ready to get us cylinders done in 30 to 45 days.”

Closure of the Sterlite Copper Plant 

The Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi was shut down by Tamil Nadu in May 2018 following the violent protests staged by the locals and activists, who alleged that the plant posed serious health hazards. 

Though the plant later got clearance by the National Green Tribunal, the state government approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the National Green Tribunals order. The apex court stayed the order of the NGT and allowed Sterlite Copper to approach the Madras High Court, which upheld the government order. 

The case is now in the Supreme Court with Sterlite Copper challenging the Madras High Court verdict. The company’s plea to access the plant for just maintenance purposes has also not been entertained by the court so far.

The closure of the Sterlite Copper plant had such widespread ramifications that it made the country an importer of copper cathodes from being one of the top five exporters.

Shortage of medical oxygen in India

On witnessing an acute shortage of medical oxygen, several companies including Reliance Industries, SAIL, Jindal, Tata Steel and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India have already volunteered to supply oxygen from their facilities. The steel ministry informed that 28 oxygen plants located in the steel facility of both public and private sectors are supplying about 1,500 tonnes of medical oxygen every day and additional stock of 30,000 MT, including the safety stock, is being made available for medical use. 

Priyanka Gandhi’s Twitter faux pas, takes three attempts for condolence tweet

OpIndia Staff
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Priyanka Gandhi’s Twitter faux pas, takes three attempts for condolence tweet

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while expressing her condolence on Sitaram Yechury’s son’s demise, ended up with quite an embarrassing faux pas.

At first, she ended up condoling death of Sitaram Kesari’s son, when in reality, it is Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury who lost his son. At 10:34, she tweeted her condolences to Sitaram Kesari and his family.

Priyanka Gandhi’s now-deleted tweet condoling death of Sitaram Kesari’s son.

Sitaram Kesari is past Congress President and has not been a favourite with the Gandhi family. He who served as Congress’ party president from 1996 to 1998 after which he was unceremoniously removed to make way for Sonia Gandhi. He was reportedly locked up in the bathroom at Congress headquarters in Akbar Road so he could not stop Sonia from entering the office with her supporters to take over as party president.

Reply to Priyanka Gandhi’s now-deleted tweet

As one can see, a Twitter user had tried to correct Priyanka Gandhi whether it should Sitaram Kesari or Sitaram Yechury in her tweet. Original tweet of Priyanka Gandhi now stands deleted.

Priyanka Gandhi fan account

However, her fan accounts have still kept their copy-paste message condoling death of ‘Sitaram Kesari’s son’ on their timelines.

Soon, her social media team must have scrambled together and stepped in for the actual condolence message that should have gone up from Priyanka Gandhi’s account.

Except, the person handling Priyanka Gandhi’s account ended up tweeting the content they received as is. This was her tweet at 10:36 AM, two minutes after her first tweet on Sitaram Kesari.

As can be seen, her condolence tweet had ‘Please tweet’ before her actual message that showed that the condolence message was copied-pasted from WhatsApp or other such tool.

Soon, this tweet was also deleted and finally, in third attempt, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra managed to tweet the proper condolence message to correct recipient.

At 10:38 AM, four minutes after her first tweet, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted correct condolence message to correct intended recipient on third attempt.

Yechury’s son Ashish succumbed to Chinese coronavirus earlier today after battling for two weeks in hospital.

Sri Lanka asks ship carrying nuclear material for China to leave Hambantota, had docked after developing technical snag

OpIndia Staff
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Sri Lanka asks ship carrying nuclear material for China to leave Hambantota, had docked after developing technical snag

A Chinese ship carrying radioactive material was asked to leave the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka while on its way to China when it developed technical difficulties and sought permission to dock at the port on Tuesday. 

The vessel- MV BBC Naples, managed by the China Merchants Port Holding Company, which had come from the port of Rotterdam was found carrying uranium hexafluoride when it docked at Chinese-run Hambantota port, informed Anil Ranjith, a top official of the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Authority (SLAEA).

Ranjith in a statement to AFP informed, “The ship failed to declare its dangerous cargo – uranium hexafluoride and we decided to order it to leave our waters immediately.”

The commercial vessel was carrying uranium hexafluoride- the radioactive material, serves as fuel for nuclear power plants, he added. 

The SLAEA said the local agent of the vessel failed to disclose its radioactive cargo when it sought permission from the Harbour Master to dock in at the Hambantota port. 

Sajith Premadasa, the main opposition leader informed the parliament that the Sri Lanka Navy, who is in charge of the Hambantota port security, was also not allowed to carry out inspections on the vessel.

He has also demanded an investigation into the incident, describing it as a serious safety and security threat.

The Sri Lankan government has not commented on the incident as yet. The port authority have informed that the ship, carrying the flag of Antigua and Barbados had entered the port on 20 April at 9 pm. It had made an urgent call at Hambantota for some repairs. Agents of the ship had not informed the port authorities about the hazardous cargo on board, as reported by Sri Lankan media.

About the Hambantota Port

Hambantota which is about 260 kilometers (162 miles) south of Colombo port was leased to China in 2017 for 99 years after the Colombo government was unable to repay the $1.4 million it had borrowed from Beijing to build it.

The port is near key Indian Ocean shipping lanes.

The entry of two Chinese submarines into Colombo in 2014 angered India, after which Sri Lanka has not allowed Chinese submarine visits.

Rajasthan: Crowd gathered in Jaipur’s Jama masjid pelts stones on police team, vehicles damaged

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Crowd gathered in Jaipur’s Jama masjid pelts stones on police team, vehicles damaged

On April 21, an incident of stone-pelting on Police personnel took place outside Jama Masjid in Sanganer, Rajasthan. As per reports, a large crowd comprising people from the particular community were gathered outside Jama Masjid even after the curfew in the area due to the Covid-19 surge. When the Police tried to disperse them, they started pelting stones.

As per media reports, the administration had imposed curfew in the region to curb the rising cases of Covid-19 infection. However, the movement of people and public gatherings in the mosque continued. The Sanganer Police arrived at the scene to talk to the mosque administration. During that time, the crowd present in the mosque attacked the Police personnel. Several vehicles were also damaged in the attack.

It has to be noted that amidst a surge in Covid-19 cases, Section 144 has been imposed in the state of Rajasthan till May 21. Under section 144, it is illegal to gather in a crowded manner anywhere, including the religious places. The Police had arrived at the scene to disperse the crowd and got attacked. The Police are trying to identify those who had pelted stones and violated Section 144. Further action as per law will be taken once they are identified.

DCP Abhijit Singh had arrived at the spot to control the situation, as per a report by Zee Rajasthan. The police are trying to identify and arrest the anti-social elements which engaged in stone pelting at the mosque.

The covid-19 situation in Rajasthan

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Rajasthan reported 14,622 new Covid-19 cases on April 21. 10,795 were reported recovered on the same day, and 62 lost their lives to Covid-19 related complications. With 80,981 tests performed on Wednesday, the positive ratio was at 18.1%. The state has been consistently showing a high positive ratio for the last ten days.

Sitaram Yechury’s son passes away due to Covid-19

OpIndia Staff
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Sitaram Yechury’s son passes away due to Covid-19

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – Sitaram Yechury lost his eldest son Ashish Yechury to COVID-19 today morning.

Yechury took to Twitter to announce the unfortunate news and thanked all who treated him.

His tweet read, “It is with great sadness that I have to inform that I lost my elder son, Ashish Yechury to COVID-19 this morning. I want to thank all those who gave us hope and who treated him – doctors, nurses, frontline health workers, sanitation workers and innumerable others who stood by us.”

Ashish Yechury was being treated at Gurgaon’s Medanta Hospital, where he lost his battle to Covid-19. Ashish was 34 years old and would have turned 35 on June 9.

NewsLaundry tweet

Ashish Yechury was an Assistant Editor at Newslaundry.

Sitaram Yechury’s wife Seema Chisti is also a journalist-writer.

Action under NSA and Gangster Act against black marketers of oxygen cylinders, Covid-19 medicines, warns UP CM Yogi Adityanath

OpIndia Staff
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Action under NSA and Gangster Act against black marketers of oxygen cylinders, Covid-19 medicines, warns UP CM Yogi Adityanath

In a statement today, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath took aim at black marketers trying to make a profit through the illegal sale of oxygen cylinders and COVID-19 medicines. “Those found involved in black marketing of oxygen cylinders and covid related medicines will be facing action under NSA and Gangster Act”, warned CM Yogi.

The National Security Act allows the government to detain an individual for up to 12 months, whereas the Gangster Act of U.P. allows the police to attach the property of the accused and confiscate it.

CM Yogi Adityanath has been busy tackling the pandemic, ordering the deployment of an officer of Secretary level in each district in order to overlook the expansion of hospital beds in these districts. He has further announced the setting up of three additional oxygen plants by next week.

“With DRDO’s help, a new oxygen plant with a capacity of 220 cylinders will be installed and made operational in the next 2-3 days. The government of India has allocated 750 MT oxygen,” Yogi said. 

He added that before any medical college is recognized in the state, it should be ensured that the respective college has its own oxygen plant. The CM has also ordered that all vehicles carrying oxygen will have to be GPS-tracked, oxygen plants will be provided police protection and steps will be taken to prevent black marketing.

He also ordered that oxygen plants should take up supply to the nearest hospital and all hospitals with L1, L2, and L3 facilities will be tracked separately for oxygen demand and supply, ensuring a backup of at least 36 hours.

As ICMR study proves high efficacy of made in India Covid vaccines, read how politicians and media had stoked vaccine hesitancy against Covaxin

OpIndia Staff
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As ICMR study proves high efficacy of made in India Covid vaccines, read how politicians and media had stoked vaccine hesitancy against Covaxin

Today, the ICMR announced that the indigenous Bharat Biotech-developed Covaxin neutralizes multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 including the double mutant strain, according to a study. ICMR shared the update through a tweet which also entails an infographic detailing the results of the study.

ICMR also announced that the infection rate among those who have taken two doses of Covaxin is 0.04%, while the rate after two doses of Covishield is 0.03%, which means that both vaccines being administered in India are highly effective.

These results announced by the ICMR will hopefully put to rest the multitude of doubts and vaccine hesitancy manufactured by political actors and figures in the media for months. For many months, these doomsday predictors fueled vaccine hesitancy by making all kinds of baseless claims about Covaxin. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, here is a brief snapshot of how these doomsday prophets were utterly proven wrong.

The Political Opposition

Back in January 2021, after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines Bharat Biotech’s vaccine Covaxin and SII’s ‘Covishield’, opposition leaders had indulged in peddling propaganda by targeting the government over the efficacy and safety of the vaccines and resorting to fear-mongering ahead of the release of the cure for the pandemic.

It is an old saying that Opposition is just Government-in-waiting, however many opposition figures took a narrow view when it came to indigenous vaccines and did not think of the national interest. Rather than encouraging people to be immunized, many opposition leaders played politics over life-saving vaccines.

In January 2021, the Chhattisgarh government of Bhupesh Baghel came out against Covaxin. In February, Chattisgarh’s Health Minister TS Singh Deo aggravated the situation by writing a letter to Union Health Minister Dr. Harshavardhan to halt the supply of COVAXIN into Chhattisgarh, raising unfounded doubts about the made in India vaccine.

Shashi Tharoor, thought of as one of Congress’ “more educated” leaders, also joined the fear-mongering brigade against COVAXIN in January, falsely labelling the government’s approval as “premature” and “dangerous”. In hindsight, we can confidently declare that Shashi didn’t know what he was talking about. Also, the vaccine was undergoing Phase-3 trials at the time, so the “not yet had Phase 3 trials” part was just straight up false.

Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the pandemic, the Thiruvananthapuram MP was not only discrediting the scientists and other experts who have put all their efforts to develop the vaccine but also pushing the innocent people away from the cure.

Senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi did not shy away from making bizarre and absurd claims about COVAXIN, stating that just like BJP and PM Modi were using agencies including CBI, Income Tax Department and ED against opposition leaders, they might use the vaccine to target the opposition leaders.

He said that the vaccine will be misused by the BJP against political adversaries and justified the calls for the boycott of vaccination drive. He also supported Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s insane claim that indigenous vaccines like COVAXIN are BJP’s vaccines.

Former Union Minister and Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also pushed for uncertainity and doubt in the case of COVAXIN, directly calling upon Union Minister Dr. Harshavardhan to clarify. Cleary, Mr. Ramesh did not consider Bharat Biotech to be “first rate”, because if he did, he would not raise fears and doubts about COVAXIN in the first place.

Deputy leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma also raised aspersions on the efficacy of Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine by alleging that the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) “dispensed” with mandatory protocols and verification of data by granting COVAXIN its approval.

Mr. Sharma, who heads the Parliamentary Panel on Home Affairs that extensively dealt with the issue, said no country had dispensed with mandatory Phase-3 trials and verification of data, and the issue of granting authorization needs to be taken carefully.

In one of the most despicable comments politicizing vaccines, SP President Akhilesh Yadav said that he doesn’t trust “BJP’s vaccines” and will wait for his government to form. This comment earned him righteous condemnation from all across the political spectrum, resulting in him doing a U-Turn just a day later.

RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav, son of Fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad Yadav, also pushed vaccine hesitancy in January. In a statement, he said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take the first shot of Covid-19 vaccine, then, we will also take it,” implying that there was something inherently dangerous about the vaccine. However, PM Modi did take the vaccine immediately after he became eligible for it as per the rules set by his govt.

The Media Narrative

Whilst it is outrageous of our politicians to lie and mislead people about something even as vital and important as vaccines, it does not come as a surprise. The real scandal, however, is our media dutifully going along with vaccine sceptic narratives. A repeat offender of this vaccine skepticism was Shekhar Gupta’s The Print, with it pushing many articles sowing doubts about the efficacy of indigenous vaccines.

Nitin Pai, who regularly gets to opine in Shekhar Gupta’s publication, termed DCGI’s approval of Covaxin “a political jumla” which reinforces Modi’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. In the headline itself, The Print puts the word approval in quotation marks, implying that somehow Covaxin’s approval was not based on science. Hopefully, this is not the level of discourse being offered at Pai’s Takshashila Institution, otherwise, a lot of people should ask for their money back.

Sandhya Ramesh, ironically The Print’s Science reporter, shared an article written by a colleague in The Print, literally characterizing Covaxin as “India’s most controversial Covid vaccine”. For a few clicks and hits, The Print has no qualms in labelling life-saving vaccines as “controversial”, encouraging vaccine hesitancy.

Saket Gokhale, a person who likes to spam frivolous RTIs and considers himself an activist, could not resist from being away from peddling lies and misinformation. Gokhale, whose understanding of science is equivalent to the Congress party’s perceived integrity, found illogical ways to discredit the ingeniously produced vaccine. He attributed false statements to DCGI VG Somani to attack the Made in India vaccines and in the process exposed himself as a spectacular fool with zero understanding of the vaccine and its trial results.

India is going through a difficult time, as many different parts of the country are witnessing a surge in Coronavirus cases. In this situation, there is nothing more important than to promote immunization and provide vaccines to every eligible citizen possible. However, such efforts will not be as effective if the political opposition and the media class push vaccine hesitancy, just for the sake of undermining PM Modi.

Therefore, when it comes to vaccines, prudent statements based on facts are the only way to go. Not half-guesses with dubious sources backing it up.

Is Serum Institute really making a huge profit and charging discriminatory price from states for Covid-19 vaccine? Read details

Raju Das
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Is Serum Institute really making a huge profit and charging discriminatory price from states for Covid-19 vaccine? Read details

Ever since various pharmaceutical companies developed vaccines for Covid-19, several non-NDA parties and left-liberals in India have launched a vested campaign against Indian companies, while batting for foreign companies. Led by the Congress party, this anti-BJP section has been attacking the Indian origin Covaxin made by Bharat Biotech, while asking the govt to approve foreign vaccines, even if they are highly costly compared to Indian companies. The latest target of this left-liberal attack is the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, after the company announced prices for COVISHIELD to be charged from state governments and private hospitals.

The company announced the rates today after the central govt had opened up Covid-19 vaccination, allowing vaccine manufacturers to sell 50% of their production to state governments and private hospitals, while the remaining 50% will have to be sold to the central govt. The Centre had directed the companies to declare the price for states and private sector before 1st May, and accordingly, SII announced the prices today, which is ₹400 for state governments and ₹600 for the private sector.

However, it didn’t go down well with the left-liberals, and they started attacking the company, accusing it of making huge profit by setting these prices. The attack was led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who found another industrialist after Ambani and Adani to attack PM Modi with.

The Kerala MP claimed that the vaccines will only help a few industrialists, and the prices will help ‘Modi’s friend’ to earn a huge profit. However, Rahul Gandhi was not the only one to launch an attack on the company and its CEO Adar Poonawalla. A large number of politicians, journalists, radical Islamists and left-liberal activists started attacking the company on the same allegations.

Most of them accused SII of discriminating between states and centre, as they pointed that the company is selling COVISHIELD to the centre at ₹150, therefore it should charge the same amount from states also.

TMC MP Mahua Maitra wanted to know if there is anyone who is a citizen of a state who is not a citizen of India, as the prices are different for the state and centre.

Rana Ayyub even wanted to ask tough questions to Adar Poonawalla, as if he is a public representative.

No huge profit, but end of loss

Although it is correct that at present Serum Institute of India is supplying the vaccine to ₹150 plus tax per dose to the government of India, it is completely incorrect to accuse that it will be making a huge profit by selling at ₹400 per dose to the states. This is because, the company is selling the vaccine at a loss to the centre, and it can’t continue doing that. Today Adar Poonawalla said in an interview with CNBC the company needs to pay 50% of its revenue as royalty to AstraZeneca, and the company is making a loss of approximately ₹150 per dose.

It is important to note that the company is supplying the vaccine to a concessional rate only for a limited period of time, as it has already announced earlier. Adar Poonawalla had earlier announced that the company will supply the first 100 million doses of the vaccine to govt of India at a low rate, and after that, they will selling the same at ₹1,000 per dose in the private market.

“We’ve given a special price of Rs 200 for the first 100 million doses only to Government of India on their request that we want to support common man, vulnerable, poor, healthcare workers. After that we’ll be selling it at Rs 1000 in private markets,” the SII CEO had said in January.

This means, it was already known that the company will increase the price after supplying 100 million doses, and now they are charging a much lower price of ₹600 from the private market instead of ₹1000 they had announced earlier. Only, the company is supplying more than double of its initial commitment at the lower rate. Because, after the initial contract of 100 million doses, the government of India signed another contract last month with the company for the supply of 110 million doses at the concessional rate, and the company is still supplying vaccine under that contract. The company is expected to complete the delivery by July, after which the centre will have to sign a new contract, and the company has made it clear that no more discount will be offered from now.

The SII CEO also said that they had proposed the price of ₹600 for both state governments and private sector, and talked to some states on the issue. But the state govts requested to bring the price down, after which the company decided to charge a lower price of ₹400 from the states. This means, state govts were aware that the prices will be higher than the current price charged from the centre, as they were part of the discussions on it.

Centre will also be charged ₹400

Adar Poonawalla revealed another important point in his interview with CNBC. He said that after the company supplies the fresh batch of 110 million doses to the central govt as per the contract, they will charge ₹400 from the centre for any new purchase order. He said that the price of ₹400 has been set for all governments, and there is no discrimination.

SII was giving concession to Indian govt, and some other countries too, as those governments had placed order with the company for the vaccine even before the trial data of the vaccine was published. The countries had taken a risk by placing order committing to purchase an untested product, and that’s why they were offered a lower rate. But now that the efficacy of the vaccine has been proved, there is no need to offer such discount.  

It is also to be noted that in exchange for the discounted rate, the govt of India has offered an advance of ₹3000 crore for SII. The company needed the fund for expanding its vaccine production capacity, and the central govt provided the fund as a credit against future supply of doses.

Centre’s citizen vs state’s citizen

The argument that SII is discriminating among citizens by charging different prices from centre and states does not make sense at all, as there are no different citizens belonging to the centre and the states, as TMC MP Mahua Maitra and many others seem to believe. The vaccines that the centre is buying, which it will continue to do so, are supplied to state governments only. It is not that PM Narendra Modi or his cabinet is consuming the vaccine themselves. The vaccines are given to Indian citizens in all the states in India.

The centre is vaccinating people over 45 years of age free of cost in all the states, which it will continue to do so. It is not that the Modi govt is vaccinating a different set of people ignoring citizens in Indian states, as the opposition leaders and left liberals are suggesting.

In fact, as Adar Poonawalla said today, the states have been given an option to buy vaccine themselves, they are not compelled to do so. If the states think they can’t afford the vaccine, they can choose to not buy the vaccine, and continue the vaccination program using the doses supplied by the centre.

Charity vs business

By claiming that SII is making profits from selling vaccines, the left liberals want to imply that the company should spend crores of rupees from its pocket to protect the people of India from the Chinese virus. SII has invested a large amount of money to expand its capacities to produce the vaccines, both Covishield and the upcoming vaccine Covavax. In fact, immediately after the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was developed and finalised, the company had started manufacturing and stockpiling it, so that millions of doses are available by the time vaccine is approved after the clinical trial. Had the vaccine proved to be a failure, it would have lost crores of rupees. Although organisations like GAVI and Gates Foundation shared some of the risk, the company invested fund in the vaccine project, which comes at a cost.

No company can sustain by selling a product at cost price, it has to earn a reasonable amount of profit to expand its operations, mitigate risks, spend in R&D etc. Therefore, it is not reasonable to expect SII to supply the vaccine at even cost price, and it impossible that the company will continue to sale at loss. The company had already announced it was offering the discount only for a limited quantity of vaccine, and after that, they will increase the price. SII has supplied double the committed quantity at concession and charging much less than the earlier announced price. They can’t be expected to continue doing charity forever.

Foreign vs Indian company

It is interesting to note that while many people are against SII increasing the price of COVISHIELD, they themselves had argued that those who can afford should be allowed to purchase costly foreign vaccines. Congress leaders had demanded that those who can afford price of ‘Advanced Pfizer and Moderna vaccines’ should not be denied access, and govt should approve their use.

But now when now a similar choice has been made available at much lower rates, the same people objecting. It may be noted that the doses of Pfizer and Moderna costs between ₹2000-₹3000, while the Oxford vaccine is being sold at a much lower rate to the private sector by SII. Although the price may be slightly more than ₹600 to account for logistics, it will still much lower than the rate of foreign vaccines.

It shows that Indian left-liberals only want to bring the Indian industry down, while promoting foreign companies. Not just COVISHIELD, and Covaxin, Indian vaccine manufacturers sell almost all other vaccines at much lower price compared to their global counterparts. On the other hand, pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer are known for overpriced drugs and their greedy nature. It has to be noted that Pfizer wanted Latin American countries to pledge their national assets, including federal bank reserves, military assets, to protect the company from any future liability arising out of adverse reactions of the vaccine or its own negligence, fraud or malice. And the Indian left-liberals are campaigning for such while opposing Indian companies selling vaccines at much lower price.

‘Remdesivir is not magic bullet, 85 percent of Covid patients do not need hospitalisation: Top doctors issue advisory

OpIndia Staff
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‘Remdesivir is not magic bullet, 85 percent of Covid patients do not need hospitalisation: Top doctors issue advisory

Amidst the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country, top doctors—Dr Randeep Guleria, director of AIIMS, Dr Shetty, chairman of Narayana Health, and Dr Naresh Trehan, chairman of Medanta Hospitals, advised people on how to battle out the new wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Brought together by ANI, the top doctors spoke on a range of issues, from dispelling myths about the ineffectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 to importance of maintaining COVID appropriate behaviour such as masking up properly and regularly to unwarranted hoarding of essential life-saving drugs like Remdesivir and medicinal oxygen.

“Get yourself tested for COVID-19, it is the most important thing”: Dr Shetty

Dr Shetty of Narayana Health advised people to check their oxygen saturation levels every 6 hours. Issuing an advisory, Dr Shetty said, “If your oxygen saturation is above 94% then there is no problem. But if it is falling after exercise, then, you need to call a doctor. It’s important you get the right treatment at the right time.”

Dr Shetty also added that COVID-19 should not be taken lightly and asked people to get tested for the infection even if their symptoms do not indicate that they are down with the coronavirus. “Any patient complaining about anything in their body, it is COVID unless proven otherwise,” Dr Shetty said.

“There is a possibility that you may be asymptomatic, then, doctors will tell you to stay at home, isolate yourself, wear a mask and check your oxygen saturation every 6 hours. If you have any symptom like body ache, cold, cough, indigestion, vomiting- I have one important message- get yourself tested for COVID-19. It is the most important thing,” he added.

Remdesivir is not a ‘Ramban’: Dr Trehan dispels doubts regarding the crucial antiviral drug

Dispelling doubts about COVID-19 that are doing the rounds among the masses, Dr Trehan of Medanta said that a very small percentage of people would require hospitalisation. He said the hospital beds should be utilised judiciously & with responsibility.

Dr Trehan also spoke on the usage of antiviral drug Remdesivir that has been in huge demand ever since the second wave of the coronavirus struck India. He said that they have made a protocol to not administer Remdesivir to everyone who tests positive. Only after doctors look at test results, symptoms, comorbidities of a patient, he said, should the drug be administered. “Remdesivir isn’t a ‘Ramban’, it only decreases viral load in people who need it,” Dr Trehan said.

The chairman of Medanta advised patients to make judicious use of oxygen. He urged patients to not hoard oxygen which would unnecessarily deprive others of the gas and asked them to stop its wastage.

“Today we have enough oxygen if we try to use it judiciously. I want to tell the public that if you don’t need oxygen then don’t use it as a security blanket. Waste of oxygen will only lead to depriving someone who needs it,” said Dr Trehan, the chairman of Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon.

85 per cent of people infected with COVID-19 would not need hospitalisation: Dr Randeep Guleria

Speaking on the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, Dr Randeep Guleria, the chairman of AIIMS, Delhi, said that more than 85% of people will recover without any specific treatment in the form of Remdesivir etc. He added that most will have symptoms like the common cold, sore throat etc. and within 5-7 days, they will recover with symptomatic treatment. Only 15 per cent may go to moderate disease level, the doctor said.

Dr Guleria also said that most people can ward off COVID-19 by simply taking paracetamol. He said Remdesivir is not a magic bullet and urged people to simply remain hydrated, consult with their doctors to recover from COVID-19.

“Important to understand that most of us who in home isolation or in the hospital because of panic doesn’t actually need any specific treatment. Only a small percentage require Remdesivir. Don’t consider this as a magic bullet,” Dr Guleria said.

With respect to the oxygen demand, Dr Guleria said that people whose oxygen saturation is above 94 per cent do not need to take supplemental oxygen. He even suggested that even those people whose oxygen levels drop to 90-92 per cent are not in the immediate need for oxygen. In such cases, Dr Gurelia said, patients should continuously monitor their oxygen levels and consult with their doctor for their treatment.

“As a country, if we work together, use oxygen and Remdesivir judiciously, then, there will be no shortage anywhere. In terms of the number of people who need oxygen and oxygen supply, we are well balanced,” he said.

Dr Guleria urged people to stop hoarding Remdesivir and oxygen cylinders, stating that others might be deprived of the critical supplies if they continue to store up the antiviral drug and oxygen.

The chairman of AIIMS also quashed the rumours that vaccines are ineffective against COVID-19. He asked people to get vaccinated and said that the vaccines protect people from severe effects of the virus. However, he cautioned people to still remain masked up even if they have had their doses of vaccines.

“Vaccines prevents from getting diseases in form of severe illness, going to ICU, during that time one can still test positive for RTPCR test and can be infectious…wearing a mask after getting vaccines is important to prevent those who are yet to take vaccines and who are susceptible to the COVID-19 infection,” he said.

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