Op-Ed by Tala Al Otaibi, Contributor

May 13th, 2021

The ongoing pandemic has not been easy on anyone. To some, it was even harder than it was on others. During the month of April, the situation in India was particularly difficult. Over that last month, India witnessed an extremely high spike in the number of daily cases. During the beginning of April, the number of cases were at an average of 100,000 a day. However, by the very end of April, they had gone up to 400,000. This spike in cases ultimately led to reaching a total number of 22.7 million cases in India.

As we know from the nature of the virus, oxygenation is a very crucial form of treatment for patients suffering from dangerously low oxygen levels. However, by the end of April, major hospitals in Delhi quickly began to run out of oxygen supply. From then on, a large crisis in India was set in motion, as people began to die while waiting for an oxygen supply that was running substantially low. As a result of the shortage, hospitals and clinics began to desperately look for help and move their patients elsewhere in hopes of providing them a chance to live. The Indians have been living a nightmare of frantically looking for oxygen and heading towards oxygen refilling centers in order to help save their loved ones, constantly afraid that, one day, the oxygen would completely run out.

Months ago, there was another oxygen shortage crisis in India. However, this time is even worse than the time before it. This time, there is a larger consumption of oxygen needed than before due to the higher number of cases that is constantly on the rise, which have made matters far worse for those fighting for their lives. In order to understand the situation better, I have spoken to a few anonymous sources who live in India as a means of clarifying the situation from the inside.

I spoke to a girl who currently has the virus. She is only 22 years old and has been volunteering throughout the crisis. She and her family have all contracted the virus and are currently struggling. While she is now recovering, she was kicked out of the hospital prior to that when her oxygen tank ran out. The hospitals are suffering from an extreme lack of supplies and have not been able to support all of their patients. She further mentions that, from her experience and the experience of others around her, the hotlines in many areas are extremely useless. “Half of them do not even pick up during the night and the other half never do anything until the morning,” she says. At the moment, oxygen cylinders are being sold on the black market for 5 times the amount that they originally cost. In many cases, they are sold for 5,000 rupees, which is the equivalent of the monthly income of many citizens in India who are not able to afford those cylinders, no matter how desperate they may be. Those selling on the black market have also often sold fake products out of desperation for money. 

The Indian citizens I spoke to have also blamed their government for what is happening right now. There is no denying that the Indian government is currently not providing any support to the people or helping them in the way that they truly need. “The government is not doing anything about it, and it is very frustrating,” the volunteer says. The government is still holding rallies and focusing on elections rather than taking care of the fatal crisis happening in India right now. “The government was not ready” to handle the situation in terms of healthcare. One of my sources is a 28-year-old doctor in India. While she specializes in dermatology, like many other doctors, she was asked to work in COVID units in order to provide more manpower. She mentions that the healthcare system was able to handle the first wave relatively well, despite the complexities. However, the second wave hit them very hard. Hospitals in India do not have enough beds, supplies, or ICU space. “Younger patients are falling even sicker with the second wave,” says the doctor.

Anyone under 45 is currently unable to obtain any vaccine appointment despite the encouragement for anyone 18 and above to get vaccinated. Even more so, the volunteer I spoke to has mentioned that “there are no vaccine appointment slots available throughout the entire month of May,” indicating that there is a high vaccine shortage as well. “Doctors in hospitals have started begging people not to come to the hospital,” says another source, who is an 18-year-old student. The doctor I spoke to believes that, from what she has seen within the field, many deaths could have been prevented had more of the population been vaccinated. The vaccine situation is very chaotic at the moment. Because of the shortage of vaccine, the queues of people attempting to obtain the vaccine are getting longer every single day.

The student I spoke to talked to me a lot about how much the deaths in India are very underreported. Frankly, the situation of deaths is quite heartbreaking. People are leaving their loved ones abandoned in the streets sometimes after their death because they are unable to do anything about the situation. “Many relatives of deceased patients are scared of getting the virus” should they attempt to take care of the bodies properly after death. People are often too scared to do anything for multiple different reasons.

Today, deaths are continuously rising. People are dying. The government is not doing anything about it. The citizens of India are frightened for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, while their state officials are overlooking what is happening. There is, frankly, no one else to blame for this issue. Citizens of any country are supposed to be protected by their officials. This can bring us to question what the outcome of the upcoming elections may be. Are the people of India going to be more skeptical of the officials they elect given the response to the second wave? For the sake of the Indian population that deserves better, one would very much hope so.