Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, where he raised the issue of vaccination.
Below are the five suggestions by Dr Singh:
1.’Publicise Covid vaccine orders placed for next 6 months’
“The government should publicise what are the firm orders for doses placed on different vaccine producers and accepted for delivery over the next six months. If we want to vaccinate a target number in this period, we should place enough orders in advance so that producers can adhere to an agreed schedule of supply,” Manmohan Singh said.
2.Indicate how this expected supply will be distributed across states:
The former prime minister said “the government should indicate how this expected supply will be distributed across states based on a transparent formula”.
“The central government could retain 10 per cent for distribution based on emergency needs, but other than that, states should have a clear signal of likely availability so that they can plan their roll out,” he added.
3.States should be given some flexibility to define categories:
States should be given some flexibility to define categories of frontline workers who can be vaccinated even if they are below 45 years of age.
For example, 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. They can then be vaccinated even if they are below 45.
4.Support vaccine producers to expand their manufacturing facilities:
Singh also asked the Prime Minister to proactively support vaccine producers to expand their manufacturing facilities quickly by providing funds and other concessions.
“In addition, I believe this is the time to invoke the compulsory licensing provisions in the law, so that a number of companies are able to produce the vaccines under a licence. This, I recall, had happened earlier in the case of medicines to deal with the HIV/AIDS disease. As far as Covid-19 is concerned, I have read that Israel has already invoked the compulsory licensing provision and there is an overwhelming case for India to do so as well quickly,” he wrote.
5.Any vaccine that has been cleared for use should be allowed to be imported:
Since domestic supplies are limited, any vaccine that has been cleared for use by credible authorities such as the European Medical Agency or the USFDA, should be allowed to be imported without insisting on domestic bridging trials.
We are facing an unprecedented emergency and I understand, experts are of the view that this relaxation is justified in an emergency. The relaxation could be for a limited period during which the bridging trials could be completed in India.
All consumers of such vaccines could be duly cautioned that these vaccines are being allowed for use based on the approval granted by the relevant authority abroad.
Singh said he is forwarding his suggestions for consideration in a spirit of constructive cooperation in which he has always believed and acted upon.
India, on Sunday, reported its biggest surge in coronavirus infections with a whopping 2.6 lakh new cases and 1,501 deaths on Sunday, while active cases have surpassed the 18-lakh mark, the ministry data stated.
Ten states — Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan — reported 78.56 per cent of the new infections, it said.
In the last 24 hours, India vaccinated more than 2.6 million people, pushing the total number of vaccinated people to 122,622,590 people, it added.
In terms of cases, the nationwide tally rose to 14,788,109 after 2,61,500 people tested positive for Covid-19. The number of total fatalities increased to 177,150 after 1,501 people succumbed to the viral disease.
