Like an ugly beast that just won’t die, the Covid-19 virus is surging once again in India. Statistics from India have not been that reliable in reporting the accuracy of the rate of infections in the country, but apparently the new variant is highly transmissible. It is doing what viruses do to survive. It is mutating. The Washington Post reports from New Delhi. “in India’s vast hinterland, scores of people are dying with Covid symptoms without being tested.” At the present time there have been well over 25 million recorded cases of the coronavirus among India’s 1.4 billion population. Less than 2 percent of India’s population has received the vaccines. The death toll now stands at more than 283,000. British scientists fear that this new variant could quickly become the dominant strain in the United Kingdom if it is allowed to spread unchecked. U.S. health experts are also concerned that the new variant could spread in the U.S just as it is in Germany and Singapore. This vicious virus is no respecter of borders.

Vaccines still remain the best weapon to fight off the ravages of diseases caused by viruses. Various countries are ramping up their abilities to produce adequate amounts of the vaccine not only for their own countries but for export as well. A world-wide pandemic requires a world-wide response! Many countries have pledged to share their vaccines with other countries, but experts explain that these donations are only a fraction of what is needed to end the pandemic. Some of the world’s least developed countries literally have no vaccines adequate of stopping the virus’ attacks on their populations.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)

Sources:

• Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

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