ISSN: 2577-4301
Authors: Tabish SA*
Stepping into the year 2021 is not without burden of inheritance. During the first half of 2020 SARS-CoV-2 rendered the entire human population speechless, motionless and helpless. It exposed the weak public health systems, fragile disaster management mechanisms, complacency of governments and lack of effective leadership in many countries. Globally, these are the unprecedented times, unimagined and unthought-of. The deadly virus around is forcing people all over the world to make unexpected and drastic shifts in their way of life to keep themselves safe. We are living on the edge. Let us work together to preserve, enrich, and enlighten it. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to protect people from health emergencies, as well as to promote universal health coverage and healthier populations to keep people from needing health services through multisectoral interventions like improving basic hygiene and sanitation. Perhaps life will never return to what it was before. We should make it safer by being better prepared for future pandemics. Vaccine is probably the only hope to contain and prevent SARS-CoV-2 virus. What is crucial for the global community is efficacy, safety, affordability and accessibility of vaccine. Equity is of paramount importance. COVID 19 will stay for decades. It has left scars on all humans. Though we can’t undo the damage we should build a strong recovery, we must seize the opportunity for change. Let us rise to the responsibilities of the New World – a world our children and their children inherit - a safer, more resilient and more sustainable.
Keywords: COVID 19; SARS-CoV-2; Pandemic; Vaccines; Infectious Diseases
