The United States, Britain and a few other nations appear to be just barely fighting their way out of the coronavirus pandemic with robust vaccination campaigns and other measures. But a wildfire of infection is spreading elsewhere in the world. According to the World Health Organization, the globe has seen seven consecutive weeks of increasing cases, and last week was the fourth-highest number of cases in a single week so far.
India is engulfed, but more than 2 million people, largely without masks or social distancing, bathed in the Ganges River in the Indian city of Haridwar during the largest bathing day of the Hindu religious festival Kumbh Mela on Monday. Police said they tried to keep worshippers apart, but could not enforce social distancing; videos showed large, unmasked crowds of men and women jostling for space to stand. India’s infections have soared past a record 160,000 a day, one of the worst in the world.
News reports say sick people are lying in the streets outside some hospitals, unable to find a bed, after warnings from doctors that supplies of oxygen and ventilators are low.
In Brazil, the seven-day rolling average of deaths have smashed through a record 3,000 a day, and daily new cases are hovering near peaks of 70,000 after President Jair Bolsonaro refused to impose lockdowns. A newspaper reports that intensive care units in most Brazilian states are above 90% capacity. Both India and Brazil are enormous viral conflagrations, and both nations are behind the curve on vaccinations. Other outbreaks are also worrisome: cases have spiked in Cambodia, and parts of Europe are grappling with a surge.
Vaccines save lives, but a stark divide separates the haves and have-nots. The World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told reporters Friday that of the over 700 million doses administered globally, more than 87% have gone to high-income and upper middle-income countries, while the low-income countries have received just 0.2% of the shots. (A fourth group, lower-middle income nations, have received 12.8%.)
Vaccines offer hope, but political leaders in Brazil, India and elsewhere must accept that in the short term, basic mitigation tactics — lockdowns, distancing, masks and hygiene — will work and must be used. Meanwhile, the United States, which has a vaccine surplus, should immediately begin to donate excess doses to other countries. The Biden administration took a good first step in promising 2.5 million doses for Mexico and 1.5 million for Canada but should now bequeath tens of millions more doses in storage to others.