by Meghaa Mazumdar 

COVID-19 pandemic outbreak was a huge turning point for small businesses worldwide as they were ordered to shut and stay at home. Work from home was not possible for the pharmacists, doctors, and nurses. Pharmacy professionals performed the frontline role. With the orders to stay at home, people went with their long lists of medicines to stock for the whole month. It was a great pressure to keep up with the needs of the customers as never before came a situation like this where they had to stock up medicines in such huge quantities.

These professionals went beyond their limits for their customers’ needs. To manage social distancing and avoid crowding at their doors, they started delivering the medicine orders at the doorsteps. It was getting difficult day by day to cope up with the demands because with an increasing number of affected patients, the helpers went on leaves or left their jobs fearing for their lives. This decrease in the number of workers affected the whole scenario. The production of medicine in huge numbers with fewer workers was a challenge. Then the distribution of medicines from markets to shops was also affected. This led to the shortage of medicines and angry customers.

With this situation, getting worse day by day, people started calling and reminding of their orders multiple times a day which was very disturbing to concentrate on the customers standing in the pharmacies. But keeping the situation in mind, there was no other way out and this was how it was going to be.

All these apart, wearing face masks, face shields, and gloves all day was not less than a punishment. Masks all day on were so suffocating that it made the body oxygen level down many times and even it became the cause of blacking out. Wearing a mask was never practiced before so this was also a new normal which was not less than punishment as well, said a medical practitioner.

So when people got awareness about the masks, vitamin c tablets, zinc tablets, arsenic granules and etc, there was an increase in its demand which ended up short in markets. New products came up which were costlier than the usual ones and this offended the buyers as they were to take these medicine doses regularly and needed to wear those masks daily. Persuading everyone that the contents are the same, names are different, and reasoning each and everyone was also mind-bursting. Dealing with patients and customers all day was also risky for the pharmacists as many times they got affected which ended up closing their shops and paying for the hospital bills and medicines. This was a loss for them.

To sum up the above situation, the world is going through an immense amount of changes which after all is the only constant phenomenon of the dimension of time and space. It’s time we recognize the efforts of the people who stood up against all odds in the time of need and put their life at threat just that our life keeps moving, the civilisation may keep running on its wheels. These people and however small may their contribution be, deserves all the respect and tribute as our countrymen and sparkles like a gem on the heart of humanity!

About the author:

Meghaa Mazumdar is a student of Journalism & Mass Communication, BA, First Year, Vishwakarma University Centre of Communication for Development, Pune. Her article was short-listed as an entry in the Empowerment Story Competition organised in December 2020 by the University.