VACCINE POLICY

The top court’s order came in a suo motu case on Covid-19 management as the central government faces mounting criticism for its failure to secure vaccines for the country’s people as a devastating second wave rips through the vast hinterland. India is the largest manufacturer of vaccines.

So far, India has administered 216 million doses since the drive began in January.

The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly deflected criticism, releasing a document last week that rebutted what it said were “myths”.

It said the government has been “engaged continuously” with vaccine-makers since mid2020 but the companies had their own “priorities, gameplans and compulsions in allocation finite stocks”.

Union minister of state for home affairs, G Kishan Reddy, said on Wednesday that the government is working to import vaccines and that it should not be turned into a political issue.

“The government has made action plans to vaccinate everyone by the end of December (2021) and for the production of 250 crore vaccine doses after speaking to several pharma companies. Sputnik arrived in Hyderabad yesterday and discussions are on to get the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson shots too,” Reddy said. “Vaccination should not be seen from a political point of view.”

His statement refers to the government’s statement a day before that India will be in a position to vaccinate 10 million people every day by July or August and that the country will deliver doses to all eligible individuals by the end of the year. Officials, however, have not clarified where the doses would come from.

In May, India delivered an average of 1.93 million doses a day and several states ran out of supplies by the fourth week of the month for at least some groups of recipients.

Experts say the government’s target will depend on availability of doses, which for June has been pegged at 120 million.

Several states have also asked the Modi government of not leaving it up to the state governments alone to procure doses for the 18-45 age group.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik said the state has requested Union health minister Harsh Vardhan to procure Covid-19 vaccines for the state at the country-level as global vaccine manufacturers have asked for resolution of indemnity issues with the central government only.