How to make vaccine at home: Hyderabadis' search for DIY methods in google to solve jab shortage

HYDERABAD: It took the world a year to develop an effective vaccine again Covid-19. In the meantime, Google searches for home remedies for the disease has been a norm in India. But Hyderabadis are a step ahead and have looked up for ways to make the vaccine at home. 

The shortage of vaccines and oxygen cylinders in the city is a real thing. Only 2,69,927 or about two per cent of the city’s population has been fully vaccinated so far, according to the data from CoWIN, a dashboard maintained by the Central government. This apart, oxygen has become expensive too, with the cost of cylinders spiraling 10 times higher than what these used to cost before the second wave. This scarcity is directly reflected in Google Searches from Hyderabad, Telangana region, suggests Google Trend.

According to the data, the most common searches followed by the phrase ‘how to’ are: ‘How to make oxygen’, followed by ‘How to make corona vaccine at home’. To this, medical practitioners say even if one tries these DIY hacks, it would bring no gain but only harm. “Nothing useful can come out of searches like these. It can make things worse as people would end up trying wrong remedies and formulations,” says Dr Kola Shravani, a general practitioner from RK Nagar, Malkajgiri.  

Dr Yashoda, an Ayurvedic doctor and professor at Dr BRKR Govt Ayurvedic Medical College, says, “So far, Ayurvedic medicines have no cure for the virus. Remedies can only help soothe the symptoms, such as congested nose and lungs. But we do not prescribe anything as a cure.”