Here is how Covid-19 surge can be ended in cities in quick time

Cities like Mumbai and Pune are seeing a second wave of coronavirus. Dr Devi Shetty, a prominent doctor from Bengaluru, recently predicted that hospitals in major cities like Bengaluru could run out of beds if the second wave aggravates. This should make us wonder what can be done to end the ongoing/impending surge in major Indian cities in the shortest possible time. 

An idea that many on the Internet are proposing is this: Just vaccinate every adult across cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad. This can be done in a month’s time. By the time residents, including migrants, of these cities are done receiving two jabs, new cases will come down drastically. That way, any fear of localized/full lockdowns can be kept at bay. And any pressure on the healthcare sector will be a thing of the past. 

In fact, former Union Minister Milind Deora made a similar suggestion the other day. “Mumbai alone accounts for 10% of India’s new #COVID19 cases. Mumbai also generates over 6% of India’s GDP. GoI, GoM and @mybmc (Mumbai’s municipal corporation) should come together in India’s national economic interest & aggressively vaccinate every adult Mumbaikar as quickly as possible,” he tweeted. Senior journalist Vir Sanghvi, seconding Deora’s suggestion, wrote, “It’s time to speed up the vaccine drive. We have the vaccines (and with Sputnik about to be approved we will have more).”

Logistics, stocks and other issues have to be taken care of before this can be done. Moreover, there has to be aggressive coordination between the Centre and States to pull off the feat.