Manmohan writes to PM on Covid crisis

Vaccination key to battling pandemic, says former prime minister

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh yesteday wrote to prime minister Narendra Modi on the Covid-19 crisis, stressing that ramping up vaccination was the key to battling the pandemic, and mooted steps to boost supply including invoking compulsory licensing provisions as in case of HIV/AIDS drugs.

In a letter to the prime minister, the veteran Congress leader said one must not look at absolute numbers but the total percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.

“The key to our fight against Covid-19 must be ramping up the vaccination effort. We must resist the temptation to look at the absolute numbers being vaccinated, and focus instead on the percentage of the population vaccinated,” he said in his letter.

Noting that India currently has vaccinated only a small fraction of its population, Singh said he is certain that with the right policy design, “we can do much better and very quickly”.

“There are many things we must do to fight the epidemic but a big part of this effort must be ramping up the vaccination programme,” he said while making several suggestions.

The former prime minister suggested that states should be

We must resist the temptation to look at the absolute numbers being vaccinated, and focus instead on the percentage of the population vaccinated.”

Manmohan Singh | Ex Indian prime minister

given some flexibility to define categories of frontline workers who can be vaccinated even if they are below 45 years.

Currently, people above 45 years of age are eligible for vaccination.

He said some states may want to designate school teachers, bus, three-wheeler and taxi drivers, municipal and panchayat staff, and possibly lawyers who have to attend courts as frontline workers, and they can then be vaccinated even if they are below 45 years.

The suggestions come a day after the Congress Working Committee met and discussed the efforts required to fight the Covid pandemic.