Letters to the Editor — December 13, 2021

Heading home

The farmers came with strong determination to repeal the farm laws, protested, achieved their goal and are now returning. Marvellous! This was akin to ‘Veni, Vidi, Vici: I Came, I Saw, I Conquered’. The farmers exhibited to the world how a peaceful and steadfast protest with resounding unity in the midst of sun, rain and pain can make an authoritarian and majoritarian government bow down. Their cleaning the site where they protested for the past one year before their leaving only enhances their disciplined behaviour. The victory of the farmers only emphasises the point that the Government cannot implement any programme without the cooperation of the people concerned.

D. Sethuraman,

Chennai

Settle NEET

The undue delay in medical admissions this year after NEET, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, has affected students and medical colleges (Tamil Nadu, “The NEET quota cauldron”, December 12). The issue has been simmering for a whole year and after the conduct of the examinations, students are being held to ransom with the courts yet to decide on the 7.5% reservation for government school students.

This scenario is being played out year after year with poor students caught in the middle. The sooner the NEET controversy is settled, the better it would be for students, and medical education in general.

Dr. Thomas Palocaren,

Vellore, Tamil Nadu

Booster dose

The beauty of science is that it changes with developing data (‘Science & Technology’ page – “How the idea of vaccine protection changed in one year”, December 12). It is a little over two years since the novel coronavirus pandemic was reported and there are fresh insights into the role of the virus and the vaccines thereof. When it comes to the idea of a booster dose, virologist-epidemiologists should consider such a dose for the immune compromised with co-morbidities, and the elderly. I write this letter as an octogenarian. We cannot be bracketed with the more robust younger generation and have ourselves exposed to the risks of a fast-spreading and mutating virus.

Many countries have already started going ahead with booster doses while there are other nations proposing to do so. India should permit this for all those who are elderly (incidentally, a growing population), those with co-morbidities or those willing to have a booster shot, before it is too late.

H.N. Ramakrishna,

Bengaluru