New Delhi: The Centre will reportedly consider a proposal to give the green signal to India Inc to directly deal with coronavirus vaccine manufacturers to get doses for their staff, indicating the present thinking in the government about the country’s vaccine plan.
Plus, the government wants large corporations to procure Covid-19 vaccine as it would create a shield for the country’s key economic activities from the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is worth mentioning here that in his seventh straight Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the entire roadmap of vaccine production and delivery to the public in the shortest time was ready. He further mentioned that three vaccines were in various phases of trials in the country.
The country’s Covid-19 vaccine plan will be funded by the state and cost approximately Rs 50,000 crore, and most analysts have pointed out that not everyone in India will be able to get a shot in 2021, officials with knowledge of the matter told the HT on the condition of anonymity. More importantly, they emphasised that the plan has to be approved by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
If the proposal gets the clearance, this special advantage for large corporations will be available in an otherwise closely monitored vaccine programme with limited supplies and clear priorities — health workers, patients suffering from comorbidities of Covid-19 and the aged population may get a shot first, the daily mentioned. It is worth noting that Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had earlier stated that a vaccine group has been established by the government to look into various issues related to the delivery of vaccines to vulnerable populations.
Furthermore, the policymakers are yet to take a decision on which firms will be entitled to purchase directly from vaccine makers, signalling that those in crucial sectors such as pharma, petroleum, steel, cement and coal might be allowed to. Also, it will lower the financial pressure on the government.
The publication quoted an unnamed official as saying, “Their usage of vaccines will be under the overall, centralised monitoring of the Union government and data on the vaccinations will be collected and stored by the Centre too.”
The government is in contact with with the states, potential vaccine producers and other stakeholders to chalk out a plan for distribution and administration of coronavirus vaccines. However, transportation is the main challenge because many of them will have to be carried in frozen form and others will need refrigeration, too.
It has been reported that in mid-August, India’s top-five vaccine makers had made presentations to the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) and informed the group about the progress made so far for getting the shots ready.
Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII)—the world’s largest vaccine maker—has tied up with British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to produce the potential vaccine developed by the Jenner Institute of Oxford University. SII clarified that the trials of the vaccine in India are continuing without any glitches. On August 6, pharma major Zydus Cadila had launched phase 2 trials for Covid vaccines. Another domestic pharma company Bharat Biotech had started its phase 2 trials from September.
