Vaccination
is the new buzz word, with the onset of the pandemic the race for vaccine had
commenced, Russia was the first off the blocks to announce its Sputnik, but the
most promising one appears to be AstraZeneca. This race is akin to a derby,
where the punters are betting on their respective products, at stake is the
multi-billion dollar earnings expected from the global vaccination of almost
7.8 billion plus. Adar Poonawala and his Serum Institute of India is at the
forefront of this drive having tied up with Astra Zeneca. Bharat Biotech’s
indigenous Covaxin is not far behind.
Vaccination is the panacea against Corona
that we all have waited for not so patiently, although the efficacy of these
vials is yet to win the confidence of the general populace. We don’t have a
choice, no dilemma really…….but come to think of it, we never had any
choice in the earlier vaccines too. Right from the time of our birth or should
I say even before that, when the expectant mothers received their share of jabs
to keep us safe even while we were supposedly safely ensconced in the
uterus. The saga of vaccines actually commences with TT or
Tetanus Toxoid, which is our first introduction to the vaccines through our
mothers, of course. However, it is post our arrival that we are subjected to
this inhuman torture, where our tiny little upper arms are pricked repeatedly
at short intervals by the doctor or the nurses’ needles for BCG, Hepatitis, DPT
and MMR. This prick manifests itself later in life with the mortal scare of this
medical fraternity, where many tigers are at their mercy. More often than not,
it is the mothers who shed more tears than the new born infant on these
occasions. The poor unsuspecting bloke is brought here, innocently and
curiously gaping at everything, till the prick is delivered, shell shocked at
this rather painful turn of events he can’t reconcile nor forgive anyone
associated with this crime. The worst part is, it is not a one off event, it
just keeps recurring and doesn’t let go even in our adulthood. Some of us have
also been the recipient of the anti-rabies vaccine having annoyed the canines
into digging into our flesh sometime or the other in our lives. It is all the
more painful when it is your own pet, which is responsible. Pet parents are used
to the yearly vaccinations for their dogs or cats. While most pets are trained
and accept this ritual as one of those irritants which has to be endured, it
wasn’t so for Buddy, our Lab who would ensure that the Vets had to be changed
every year with his antics, as once bitten the vets were not twice but always
shy.
In the vernacular, vaccination is referred
to as ‘Tikakaran‘, which is similar to the tika applied
on the forehead by the Pandit as a blessing on the forehead to arm you against
evil eyes and bless you to be victorious. So tika actually is a life
saver, as goes the punch line in the Oral Polio vaccine drive “Do boond
zindagi ki“. The most successful vaccination drive in the world which
has eradicated Polio from our country. The success stories also include Small
pox, which incidentally traces its origin to Cow pox, as Edward Jenner the
pioneer of vaccines discovered and took fluid from the Cow pox blister to
immunise the first kid against Small pox in 1798. In fact, the word vaccine
itself owes its origin to ‘Variole vaccinae‘ the term used for Cow pox…
(Holy cow!)
In India vaccination is too huge an affair
not to be politicised and so we have the BJP vaccine being derided and an SP
vaccine promised to deliver. During the Emergency a drive for forced
sterilisation was undertaken, referred to as ‘Nasbandi’, rendering the
rural population especially vulnerable to these babus who had individual
targets of sterilisation to achieve and for them every male young, adult or old
was fair game. Sure enough rumour mongering against the supposed side effects
of Covid vaccine resulting in impotence have started doing the rounds. The
challenges thus are huge.
We in the armed forces have no option but
to undergo this pin prick at regular intervals, the TAB, TT were administered
whenever we ended up sustaining bruises or yearly during the Annual Medical
Examination. The UN tenure is preceded by hosts of vaccines, as Africa is home
to many ailments such as Yellow Fever apart from the usual TAB, TT, DPT etc.
The vaccination drive rolled out from
16th Jan. I was wondering as to why should it roll as rolls for we in the Army
signifies the commencement of yet another session of ‘ragda‘. It always started with
innocuous “get rolling”; as a reflex action even today after
almost four decades, hearing the word ‘roll’ immediately beckons us to get
rolling…wonder why vaccines have to roll out, why can’t they just walk, run,
jump, dive or crawl. Unlike the academy where one could front roll and back
roll or dive roll, here it is just roll out, i.e. there is no turning the clock
back, once the deed is done you are on a roll…. hurrah no more masks, social
distancing or any other restrictions, the world is desperately hoping to
restore the status quo ante!
Original Comments:
Pankaj (2021-01-17):
Another good one relevant for all of us
Cyrus Minwalla (2021-01-17):
While it seems nostalgic now, our yearly vaccinations held a bit of a dread while in service
Unknown (2021-01-17):
Nice one Sir
Unknown (2021-01-17):
Nice one as always, Suyash!
Akshaya Handa (2021-01-17):
In the armed forces vaccine is actually more regular and predictable than morning tea and sometimes even ablutions. Ask anyone getting an early morning scratch in ops – rest everything has to wait.
Akshaya Handa (2021-01-17):
In the armed forces vaccination is even more regular and predictable than the morning tea and sometimes even ablutions. Ask one who has sustained a scratch in early morning ops – rest everything will wait.
Sheraz Varma (2021-01-17):
You brought total recall of the childhood jabs. The study were the smallpox multiple pricks. Of course, politicians won't leave this poxxortunity …. It's their vote bank balance sheet …. And your quill works in that magical manner as ever
Samir Dhaga (2021-01-17):
Another roll for us …. Nice one Suyash…
Unknown (2021-01-17):
Interesting piece.
Another vaccine gets added to the list. For this one we have a menu to choose from. But as you said there is no choice. I hope life gets back on track soon.
Kalyan Pitre (2021-01-17):
This vaccine is a bit different . We had a lot of the pricks in bachpan and this one is post pachpan . We have a choice in this one too.
But taking this jab as panacea too is a bit premature . There is a capability of the virus to do a Houdini by mutating itself out of the net of the vaccine capabilities .
Also the efficacy seems overhyped for some vaccines . Let’s see what are the results for our home grown vaccines . Time will tell .
But on the brighter side . Indians seem a bit more immune to the virus compared to the goras . The bouncing back of the economy in quick time was because majority of the population se used to work and survive rather than starve and be be safe . There are still crowds in all markets without prophylactic measures and the corona count is still nosediving .
The above immune capability with the jab should be hopefully a force multiplier. May the GDP skyrocket !!!
PS : Keep the wonderful articles flowing . Presursor to a best seller book ??
Sudhir Nagpal (2021-01-17):
Nice
Arvinder Bhullar (2021-01-17):
Nicely articulated Suyash! You always write so well! Just one observation, I think AstraZeneca has only around 60% efficacy whereas Pfizer and Moderna have 95%! Why doesn’t the Indian government go with 95%?
Arun Sabnis (2021-01-17):
Nicely put Suyash
Vinod Shanker (2021-01-17):
Nicely put encompassing all pricks and rolls,
Sofie (2021-01-17):
An imaginative jab…another shot in the arm Suyash!
arun sharma (2021-01-17):
Good read. A reminder of all those vaxs we thought was done for good. Just one caution before the Hurrah, keep the mask on because this vax is not a prophylactic.
NITIN KHANNA (2021-01-17):
Very nicely brought out sir ….
Munendra Gupta (2021-01-17):
With near 95% inherent immunity of our bodies and much lesser Vaccine efficacy, the fun has just begun. Great writeup once again Sir, nostalgia all the way !!
Sulabh (2021-01-18):
Wonderful write up as always, thoroughly enjoyed reading…
Madhavi V Mhatre (2021-01-18):
Nice write up Suyash.
May the Roll Out of vaccine bring solution to all struggle of these last 11 months almost.
Glad Gladiator (2021-01-19):
For us to get vaccinated, it will be a long wait!!!
V Pramod Kumar (2021-01-20):
Nice article. Well written. Enjoyed reading.
JayBee (2021-01-20):
You have mastered the art of 'roll'ing out timely 'jabs'. Well done.
Vicky (2021-01-20):
Nicely articulated Sir
VM (2021-01-20):
Once again a good jab with a knockout punch sir. Your tika_karan jibe is relevant in your sasuraal too…
निवेदन:-
कोविड का टीका ससुराल में जाकर ही लगवाएँ,
क्यूँकि
ससुराल ही ऐसी जगह हैं जहाँ टीके के बाद लिफ़ाफ़ा मिलता है…
harikuk (2021-01-22):
Nice read
Yadvendar sood (2021-01-24):
Nice n relevant n today's time….look forward to ur write ups suyesh dear
Yadvendar sood (2021-01-24):
Nice n relevant n today's time….look forward to ur write ups suyesh dear
Ajay Gangwar (2021-01-24):
Nicely written, sir.
I remember that after getting the mandatory TAB & TT shots, we used to have a PT session in our squadron in the belief that that will prevent fever and soreness in the arm.
Vibha (2021-02-01):
Interesting musings. Loved the way you connected tikakaran and tika blessing.