India's Covid Crisis: Country Runs Short of Oxygen, Vaccine, Hospital Beds

The second wave of deadly coronavirus has wreaked havoc in India. Being one of the most populated and worst-hit countries, the pandemic seems to be spreading at an uncontrollable speed.

Pushing Brazil to the third spot, India became the second-largest bearer of Covid cases after the United States of America.

The Indian government appears to be fighting a blind war against the virus as the country reported more than 3,14,554 active cases and 2,509 deaths on Tuesday, April 27.

Even though a vaccination drive is active at the moment, it apparently isn’t helping the citizens as the country is now facing a massive shortage of vaccines.

Many of the health centers have stocks of vials just in enough amounts to run for a few more days. Considering the increasing number of new patients testing positive every day, experts say the situation could be dangerous.

“The latest epidemiological projections are that the peak won’t be reached for another two or three weeks nationwide,” Ramanan Laxminarayan director at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy in New Delhi, told Bloomberg TV on Monday.

"The projections that are being used are that the peak will be at the point where the numbers will probably be three or four times that we have right now."

66-year-old Sankaran Punneri Peroor, expressed his worries to the outlet, as he waited for his second dose of the vaccine.

"I managed to get admission in another private clinic which is 10 kilometers away from my residence. But on the vaccination day, the registration itself was canceled," Peroor said. "I am pursuing all efforts as the coronavirus is spreading like wildfire."

It is not just the vaccines the country is facing a shortage of. More than dozens have died in the past few weeks as the hospitals and other medical facilities in the country face shortage of medical oxygen and beds.

The Indian Air Force airlifted four cryogenic oxygen tanks from Singapore on Saturday, April 23, after the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar requested international assistance to beat the country’s current crisis.

However, the state of Kerala in Southern India, reported to be a state with a high Covid-19 caseload, is self-sufficient with oxygen. The state has a production capacity of 204 tonnes of medical oxygen per day but uses less than 100 tonnes in hospitals daily. The state government is transporting the surplus oxygen cylinders to the neighboring states.

Following India’s mounting crisis, the wealthy families in the country who can spare millions of rupees for flight tickets are fleeing to boltholes in Europe and the Middle East.

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called a high-level meeting to review the situation in the country. The prime minister has asked the officials to ensure a rapid up-gradation of health infrastructure in the country.

The country has recorded more than 202898 deaths as of Tuesday, as per the Worldometers.