DailyPost 1704
INDIAN GOVERNANCE – IN SEARCH OF SCIENCE…
And also, of technology. The battle to grasp the real nature of today’s science and technology and its cocktail with business, governance, international relations and health, lots of governments in this world will take years to fathom out. The ones who do will be able to govern their countries better, maintain better diplomatic and business relations globally and would deliver better financial and physical health to their citizens. For the rest, it would be a wild goose chase, ending up in the mess, not knowing how to come out of it and rest of the world would then make a spectacle of you. This search for science and technology and ability to garner it to a critical mass, gives you the muscles to flex in a civilized, yet authoritative manner.
Technology first. We have a social media imbroglio, with big names in the picture. The way a social media giant should behave and deliver in the ideal world is known to us, how do you take them to the mirage, is the question. Pulling off the plug of the intermediary status immunity and whether the govt. make them liable to every sort of criminal case and civil damages would finally be decided by the Courts. The capability of the companies to manoeuvre with immense strength has been seen proven country after country. *What is technically feasible as per their business model is precisely what they will be able to do.* Who takes a call on technical traceability? Precise needs of the law enforcement and investigation should be our concern. Law and policy were the pathfinders earlier and now it is the technology. That they cannot behave as a state is well accepted. *Law will have find its way into the technical and also the business maze.
Coming to the vaccine, the science of it, has been a matter of great concern. It started with the distribution and now it is embroiled with the procurement of it. Making one table after another to visibly take care of our requirements seems to be the preoccupation of the mainstream media. We did not get into the vaccine development stage, following the science of it would have made us more confident to take a call. The Pfizer moment was lost out and there was no thought given, the temperature requirements themselves became a dampener. Where all could we be able to manage such a supply chain in India did not warrant serious thought? All vaccines are the same has been the war cry, from trial data to real life vaccination data proves that Pfizer is way ahead of Covishield in its efficacy. That means a lot in real life, individually, for the society and the nation.
We decide on the data provided by the UK, when the largest number of cases are right here, the variant on which the efficacy of vaccines in question have to be proven. What the epidemiologists and researchers talk about as the area of uncertainty is also too large. The gap between the two vaccine shots is also a matter of concern. What is the exact nature of risk for people who have taken only the first jab of Covisheild? While we increased the gap based on UK data, the UK is back to 8 weeks. The critical data which will assist in our decision-making, impacting most of the country, has to come from genome sequencing, which has just not started in the right earnest. Quoting one data against the other, from whatever sources, will be no help. Data coming out of India, researched upon and findings deduced will generate clues, which we have been desperate for.
PANDEMIC GOVERNANCE CAN EFFECTIVELY HAPPEN ONLY WITH THE ABLE SUPPORT OF CONTEXTUAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.
Sanjay Sahay