VENU G S, KOLLAM
The central government has announced its strategy for the phase three of India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive. Phase three vaccination for all adults above the age of 18 comes into force on May 1. However, the state governments have to shoulder the burden of procuring vaccines for the 18-45 age category. This has drawn angry responses from chief ministers and policymakers of different states. The central government announced that vaccine manufacturers would have to allot 50 per cent of the doses produced to the Centre. These vaccines will be allocated to the states on the basis of a set formula. The manufacturers may sell the other 50 per cent to the state governments and in the open market. The manufacturers are free to set a rate for the vaccines sold to the states and private agencies. This means the state governments will have to purchase vaccines from the manufacturers. Several state governments have expressed their disapproval of the policy. Many state officials said that the policy of deregulating prices of vaccines would add a heavy burden on the finances of the states. They added that the policy could lead to delay in the vaccination. Allowing manufacturers to set prices would lead to bad consequences. First, it would increase the prices of the vaccines substantially. Secondly, there would be competition among the states to procure the vaccines and there is likelihood of the wealthier states procuring more doses. The policy will lead to inequality between states as their purchasing power varies. In fact, the Centre’s decision has aroused confusion about its policy. If the states and the Centre had devised and implemented a national vaccination drive, this confusion would have been avoided. Both, the states and the Centre must be blamed for this quandary. The states sought autonomy in the matter of vaccination while the Centre did not associate the states in the decision-making process. Partisan politics of point-scoring is discernible in the stand taken by the states and the Centre on vaccination. They must realise that in the fight against the ongoing health crisis a closer coordination and cooperation between the Centre and the states is required.