India v/s US: The vaccination story

 India v/s US: The vaccination story

What really matters in may last year then president donald trump announced an ambitious mission operation warp speed the plan was to develop manufacture and deliver wuhan virus vaccines and that to a top speed more than a year later warp speed has slowed to a crawl americans are not taking the vaccine a fourth wave of the virus is gripping the us nowhere is this crisis more visible than at the national mall in washington dc.

we were here this week the foreground is covered with more than six hundred thousand white flags six hundred thousand one for each life loss to the wuhan virus. it's a fitting tribute but also a curious one how did the biggest the world's biggest power succumb to a virus how did it fail where other countries have succeeded.

Here's a report

These flags are a monument to america's greatest tragedy a tribute to more than 600 000 lives lost a reminder of the empty seats at dinner as you walk through this field of flags it's difficult to ignore the scale of this crisis was it inevitable or was it a failure of leadership the united states has a surplus of vaccines they can inoculate all americans twice and still spare enough doses for export teenagers are getting jabbed senior citizens are getting booster shots clearly availability is not the issue here implementation is america began mass vaccination on 14 december 2020.

They had time doses and approvals plus a hollywood disc mission operation warp speed that's what they call it yet the vaccination campaign was less warp speed and more of a crawl this is the total population of the u.s 328 million 54 of them are fully vaccinated 63 percent have got at least one dose a gentle reminder here the u.s started vaccinating back in december 2020 we are in september now they had nine months to vaccinate 328 million people simply put they failed compare this to india a country of 1.38 billion people it does not have america's infrastructure but it has almost four times the people it also has poverty and illiteracy major obstacles to vaccination campaigns.

Yet india has already inoculated 14 and a half percent of its people that's nearly 800 million dollars is administered what about the us just 384 million doses look at the daily vaccination rate 9.2 million in india just 8 million in the us the leaders here in washington are not being able to send across a message that the vaccine is non-negotiable.

America is failing to vaccinate its people and the result is here for the world to see i'll share some numbers with you on the 16th of this month the united states recorded 170 000 new cases

292 americans have died of the wuhan virus in the last 24 hours 827 died the day before and more than 2 500 the day before that these numbers may not make it to international headlines but there's no hiding the truth on the ground and here in washington's national mall there are 650 000 white flags they stretch as far as the eye can see with each flag honoring an american lost to the wuhan virus pandemic there are six hundred thousand flags here but the wuhan virus deaths are still rising they have crossed 675 000 making this the deadliest pandemic in american history.

Even worse than the spanish flu of 1918. a century of medical advances a century of preeminence as a superpower yet the u.s succumbed to the wuhan virus makes you worry about the next pandemic will lessons be learned or will more flags cover the national mall some world leaders are dead set on denying the signs like brazil's president jair bolsonaro he's in new york for the united nations general assembly unvaccinated and roaming the streets british prime minister boris johnson tried convincing bolsonaro to get the jab no luck with a broad smile and shrug off the shoulders bolsonaro replied not.

it's a great but new york restaurants don't they require vaccination proof for indoor dining so bolsonaro and his team ended up on the street a slice of pizza in hand with a side of public humiliation this time last year we were helpless against the wuhan virus it overwhelmed hospitals and took away loved ones this year we have vaccines but not the will to take them america's covet crisis is a generation defining tragedy it is painful traumatic also avoidable washington bureau.