It remains to be seen how the government achieves the vaccination target

- The government unilaterally prepared the vaccination program without consulting the state governments. The Supreme Court described the policy as "impractical"

The confusion raised regarding vaccination has finally been removed and it has now become history. In a televised speech on June 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi corrected two of his mistakes. I think they probably have this method of admitting mistakes. Now it is the turn of the state governments and the opposition to move forward. By removing the confusion, we will have to achieve the target set by epidemiologists and medical experts.

However, as a note, it is important to know that all these mistakes have been made in the last fifteen months.

Mistakes and defects

1. The central government had assumed that there would be a single wave of corona in the country and that the vaccination program would proceed according to the supply of vaccines at home. The government ignored the second wave warning. The need to speed up the vaccination program was also not taken seriously.

. The government has been overly enthusiastic about protecting two home-grown manufacturers and their profits, and has been reluctant to approve other vaccines.

. The government placed the first order on the Serum Institute on January 11, 2021, while manufacturers in the UK, US, Europe and Japan placed orders in May-June 2020. The first order was for only 11 million doses. Bharat Biotech was later ordered, but its date and quantity are not known.

. No advance payments were made to both the producers despite the offer for capital grant or subsidy. Advance payments of Rs 2,000 crore to Serum and Rs 1,200 crore to Bharat Biotech were sanctioned on April 12, 2021.

. The government did not get a clear estimate of the vaccine production capacity of the two manufacturers and did not urge them to increase production. Even today there is no information on how much these two companies produce each month.

Policy without consultation

. The government had unilaterally prepared the vaccination program without consulting the state governments. The Supreme Court described the policy as "impractical".

. The central government had decentralized the process of vaccination and handed over the responsibility of vaccinating 18 to 5 year olds to the state governments. Anyone who suggested this was a big mistake. The process of obtaining the vaccine became confusing as there were no bids in the tenders issued by the state governments for the vaccine.

. The government made another big mistake by setting a different pricing policy for the supply of vaccines to the central government, state governments and private hospitals. Due to various sentiments, large quantities of vaccines were sold in private hospitals, which resulted in a shortage of vaccines to the state governments, which had to stop vaccination operations. Thus there was a great deal of controversy over sentimentality.

. The government's insistence on relying on the Covin app for registration and vaccination was discriminatory.

Let's put these errors aside. Production and supply of vaccines appear to have increased. Russia's Sputnik vaccine has helped. In the week starting June 7, an average of 20 to 5 lakh doses are being given per day. Even at this pace, in the remaining days of 2021, about 300 million doses can be given. The goal of providing two doses to every 50-100 crore adults cannot be achieved.

There is no rocket science

The steps required by the Central Government to be completed before June 2021 are as follows.

1. It is important for every domestic vaccine manufacturer to understand the monthly production figure for July to December 2021 and to estimate how much will be imported. . Order vaccine manufacturers accredited by Hu and pay them in advance. . The government should take responsibility for the entire purchase of the vaccine. (In his speech on June 9, the Prime Minister spoke of a 5 per cent gain) and its distribution to the states as per their requirement. . The government has yet to inform the public on how to bridge the gap between the need for the vaccine and its supply. If this gap cannot be bridged, the Center should meet with the state governments to re-prioritize vaccination. . Other health facilities, including the number of hospital beds, should be increased and maintained by the Central and State Governments.

The above five suggestions are not rocket science. It requires planning against which the Modi government, after the abolition of the Planning Commission, seems to be disgusted. The government should put aside its reluctance to plan and appoint a dedicated group that everyone can plan to meet the expected events. It remains to be seen how the government will deal with the challenges ahead.