Why a third (or fourth etc) COVID wave in India is guaranteed.
Vaccine Memo 1 (Procurement Power)
India’s revised MoHFW guidelines on vaccination procurement came out today (June 8). And all I need to do is to quote this report’s own timeline to show that for all the talk of public health good and soft power, the COVID vaccine market is gearing up to be India’s own thunderdome.
https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/RevisedVaccinationGuidelines.pdf
January 16. “Under the National COVID Vaccination Program, from 16th January to 30th April2021, 100% of vaccine doses were procured by Government of India andprovided free of cost to State Governments. ….to increase the pace of vaccination, participation of private hospitals was also enlisted”
May 1. “effective from 1st May, 2021,Government of India was procuring 50% of the vaccine produced. The State Government and private hospitals were now also empowered to directly procure from the remaining 50% vaccine pool.” Essentially 25% state and 25% private sector procurement.
June 21. Grab back begins. “Government of India will procure 75% of the vaccines being produced bythe manufacturers in the country”.Also happening on June 21: “domestic vaccine manufacturers are given the option to also provide vaccines directly to private hospitals. This would be restricted to 25% of their monthly production”.
In summary: Federal government takes a bigger share and decides who gets what. Private manufacturers can choose to sell directly to hospitals, not necessarily to the local governments. For example, COVISHIELD will cost Rs 780 at private hospitals (compared to free at a government center). Who will local manufacturers choose to sell their 25% to? It is not hard to imagine local governments and most people feeling that they are in a losing battle.
Next memo?: ‘Soft launches’ i.e. International vaccines like Sputnik are now exclusively available in private hospitals in places like Hyderabad and Bangalore. Similar deals are in the works. This is what COVID diplomacy is looking like from the inside.
