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Key points
- The second wave of the pandemic disrupts global health especially in India.
- Vaccinations are mandatory at most US colleges, but virtual education and virtual work is here to stay.
The world’s largest manufacturer of global vaccines, Serum Institute of India or SII, a family-owned business started by the father Cyrus Poonawalla (in 1966) and managed by his son Adar Poonawalla, is running short on vaccine supplies due to the explosion of the local variant.
"I have very old grandparents and we just had one of my grandparents' siblings die of COVID, so there is a lot of tension in the air with that," reported Shabrina Parikh of George Mason University to Voice of America (VOA).
Ruhi Jha, a student at UC Berkeley, is originally from New Delhi. She felt social isolation in the shifting time zones, which led her to midnight classes from home. Her whole family contracted COVID-19 but survived the ordeal even as the infections surged. And now she is grappling with getting a visa and traveling back to campus as millions of students are trying to get vaccinated. Can she make it back to the campus at the start of the Fall classes?
As the US and the UK prepare to come out of the year-long COVID hiatus, due primarily to high rates of vaccinations achieved, India seems to be stuck in what appears to be a long Indian summer with no end in sight.
The Indian Variant
As of May 16, the Ring Road that encircles the metro Delhi area and the rail line that snakes through the old Delhi—Chandani Chowk, Red Fort, North Delhi University campus—to the outer suburbs of the urban sprawl, such as Gurgaon (bordering the neighboring state of Haryana) and Noida (inside the Uttar Pradesh’s state line) had been shut down. The upsurge of the virus had to be contained.
On May 22, the states of Delhi (1.4 Million confirmed cases), Uttar Pradesh (1.6 Million cases), and Haryana (728,607 cases) had rampant spread of the virus, with fatalities reaching record numbers.
The virus had now spread to the rural areas, where the medical equipment, oxygen tanks, and supplies were scarce. Vaccinations obviously may take much longer to reach the rural areas.
The second wave Indian variant (B.1.617) seems to be making the rounds in the countryside, where only a couple of decades ago, I did fieldwork with rural and semi-urban families at the outskirts of New Delhi in the Alipore district.
The Indian variant may disrupt global health. With some exemptions, such as American citizens, Non-Resident Indians, and international students, the US State Department has banned travel to and from India.
US Colleges Require Vaccinations
As The New York Times reported recently, all the college and university presidents mandating vaccinations for returning students are in states carried by President Biden. Inside Higher Education is carrying live updates as this story continues to evolve to keep students up-to-date.
There are approximately 250,000 students who have traveled from India to the US for education in previous years; the numbers have dropped from 6 percent to 4 percent, depending on the kind of program the student is attending. Specifically, from India, undergraduate students, graduate programs, Optional Practical Training (OPT), and non-degree programs are the prevalent modes of travel education to the US (202,014 enrolled in 2019 to 193,124 in 2020).
India is second only to China as a draw for native students traveling to the US; the majority of foreign students (53 percent) come from these two competing nations, vying for top spots at American colleges. The competition is cut-throat.
Even before the COVID pandemic, partly because of Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and the trade wars, there was a drop in enrollment from India and China. But COVID really threatened the cultural exchange; yet the flow of students shows no signs of abating, part and parcel of globalization.
Global trends indicate a slight drop (1.8 percent) in the number of international students in the US in 2020. Foreign students brought in $44 billion to the US economy; Indian students $7.7 billion alone. At peak in 2015-16, India was sending close to 300,000 students, which is down slightly. The fields in STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) are the most popular, including computer science, engineering, and AI.
There were as many as 75,000 students stuck here during the first wave in March-April 2020, according to the North American Association of Indian Students, with some being made homeless and unable to afford food.
Now the situation is somewhat reversed as most colleges and businesses look to open in the Summer and Fall of 2021. Students who cannot travel can claim a partial refund, depending on the school policies; or they can defer admission for a year and stay in India. Most advanced colleges and universities have now become virtual, with full capabilities of managing a full school year online.
International Students in Limbo
More than 400 US colleges have announced vaccination as a mandatory requirement to attend. Students traveling from India would have to be vaccinated to enter the US. Rutgers, Brown, Cornell, and Northeastern informed students they would have to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus. Some colleges are making plans to ensure the foreign students are vaccinated.
Yutika Khemka, an incoming UC Irvine student from Kolkata, India, told the local newspaper, she would take whatever vaccine is available to her. The idea of flying halfway across the world unvaccinated carries a huge risk. “I don’t think we are in a position to choose,” she said. But when she arrives here, a US-approved vaccination would be administered (Pfizer, Moderna, or J&J).
WHO has not released any data on the revaccination of international student travelers. But the colleges are not taking any chances. For example, University of California colleges are requiring revaccination.
The same policy would apply to anyone arriving without a vaccine, such as, American students whose parents didn’t believe in vaccines or didn’t have access to one. The international students would face a similar fate; they would be vaccinated.
The point is to create a ‘herd immunity’ on campus; by vaccinating as many students as possible we can tame the virus, as per the CDC’s guidelines.
Outbreaks can happen anywhere to anyone, according to a health officer at one of the elite colleges. Associating a disease with a group of people, “not only is it discriminatory but it’s bad public health.”
Fall term is several months away, which may make for the long Indian summer for students itching to travel. Hopefully, more vaccines will be approved by then. If students still arrive without vaccines or unrecognized ones, US colleges will most likely provide them.
However, students who are not able to travel, and opt to log in through distance education, they will have to adjust through remote learning. We know students’ minds are malleable and can adapt to anything as long as the change is not too abrupt or too fast.
We have observed students, while working with virtual instruction, for more than a year. Technology is a great enabler and can help students transition through social and cultural change, even in a health emergency, especially during a global pandemic.
