OP-ED: The dystopian dichotomies of vaccine apartheid

Could India have avoided the mess it finds itself in?
All this past week, the news was dominated by societies that seem to be living on separate planets. 

In the US, the CDC issued new guidelines allowing 100 million citizens (roughly 30% of the population that is fully vaccinated against Covid-19) to go without masks in various settings.

Meanwhile, on that very day, India reported over 360,000 new cases, and its cumulative death toll crested past 200,000 for the first time (it is the only the fourth country to get there, after the US, Brazil, and Mexico). But that is only the tip of the iceberg, because public health experts warn of massive undercounting. The actual number of infections and casualties is 20 or 30 times higher.