KARACHI:
Apropos Dr Rana Jawad’s article that analyses Pakistan’s overall pandemic strategy in which he has pinpointed the astute issues and questions that are still unanswered. Pakistan is no stranger when it comes to seeking facilitation and international praise through farfetched claims and distorted facts. Had the original smart lockdown strategy truly been phenomenal, we would not have witnessed recurrent waves and fatalities with similar trends. A younger median age and robust immunities may have indeed played a greater role every time we flattened the curve.
However, amid the grey clouds, there is always a silver lining. Pakistan has initiated and maintained perhaps its grandest vaccination drive. We recently hit a milestone of 1.5 million daily vaccinations. The government has played an empirical role in at least one aspect where the data is complete and reliable and suggests encouraging trends. The realisation of SOPs and adopting preventive measures against diseases that can mutate and emerge fiercer is now generally accepted even if not applied thoroughly. If we reach herd immunity or even closer to 80% nationwide vaccination, we may be able to look back and appreciate these silver linings despite flaws in data gathering resulting in misinformation and biased conclusions.
All bodies and health experts involved in handling the Covid-19 pandemic during the last one and a half years deserve credit for their efforts even if they did not produce phenomenal solutions. This is necessary to rejuvenate the workforce. Having said that, the authorities in charge must also realise that to reach proper conclusions, Covid-19 cases should be tested broadly and reported with the same zeal and transparency with which they report increasing vaccination statistics. In the meantime, citizens must adhere to SOPs and hope for the best. Only time will tell if the pandemic will actually wane.
Taimoor Khalid Janjua
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2021.
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