Time to get vax drive back on track

The government has finally given the green signal to vaccinate all individuals over 18 years of age, from May 1 onward. The development comes on the back of India reporting over 2.59 lakh new cases on Tuesday, and 1,761 deaths over the past 24 hours, setting grim new benchmarks in single-day spikes since the beginning of the pandemic. The Centre’s plan to liberalise its vaccination drive has come as a respite of sorts for citizens as states, private hospitals, as well as industrial establishments and corporates, will now be able to directly procure the vaccine doses from the manufacturers. According to experts, the decision to carry out universal vaccination will lead to significant improvements in the availability of vaccines by July – buoyed by the ramping of production in domestic facilities as well as the arrival of foreign vaccines. NITI Aayog member Dr. Vinod Paul had remarked that international manufacturers such as Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are expected to seek an Indian licence shortly, thanks to the Centre’s plan to fast-track the approvals of internationally made vaccines, that have been given emergency use approvals by regulators in other nations. Interestingly, Johnson & Johnson has applied to India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, to conduct Phase 3 trials of its single-dose vaccine in India, as well as seeking an import licence. Of course, when one speaks of opening the market vis-à-vis privatisation, the all-important and sensitive issue of pricing comes into focus. Manufacturers have been asked to make an advance declaration of the price point at which their drugs will be available to state governments and in the open market before the National Vaccine Strategy’s Phase III becomes effective from May 1. Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India, had last week requested the government for a loan of $400 mn to ramp up its capacity after it was served a legal notice from AstraZeneca for failing to fulfil its contracts. The company, which produces 50-70 mn shots a month needs to double its capacity, and Poonawalla hopes to sell the vaccine in the open market for Rs 1,000, as against the price of Rs 150 at which the government procures the doses from the company. Analysts in the healthcare space have repeatedly called out the Centre for its delayed decision-making and the uncertainties prevailing in the regulatory space, even while squeezing private players with unprofitable pricing mechanisms for doses meant for sale to the state, that leave no room for capacity building. Pfizer’s quiet exit after having applied for emergency authorisation is a case in point – and a lesson that the government must not overlook. Making vaccines affordable and accessible for India’s 1.3 bn people will undoubtedly be one of the government’s top priorities. But what is also essential is that the Centre does not mask private players with needless red tape and choke them with bureaucratic bottlenecks in this crucial phase of India’s vaccine drive.