India needs a COVID-19 vaccine policy that ensures total coverage throughout the country in logical phases. Analyse (200 Words)
Refer - The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
· Whether or not a vaccine for COVID-19 is around the corner, it is imperative that a vaccine policy is formulated for India, ensuring parity of access for all. As several vaccine efforts are progressing at varying paces, globally, concerns about access to a vaccine in the future have crept into the narrative.
· In the initial stages, global health leaders have been advancing the vaccine for essential workers and those at risk including senior citizens and those with co-morbidities. Even in this initial stage, the government should make the vaccine available free of cost to those who cannot pay, or at affordable rates.
· Besides being a moral and ethical imperative, it will also make economic sense to make sure the vaccine is eventually available to all. Leaving gaps in the delivery of the vaccine will only serve to allow the virus to survive, and continue to wreak further damage.
· India has a fairly reliable vaccine delivery system for children, as part of the universal immunisation programme. It may be assumed that the knowledge and wherewithal to run a full-scale vaccination programme rests with the health administration — both at the central and the State level.
· Meanwhile, the government must get its act together on developing a policy specific to the COVID-19 vaccine; from preparing resources — both material and human — for the manufacture, storage, distribution and delivery.
· This includes taking sensitive, but firm, decisions guided by evidence, on who will receive the vaccine, how, when and where. Putting down a standard operating protocol for every stage of the vaccine will serve the government well when the baton is finally passed on to it.
