Hyderabad: The bodies in river Ganga, patients dying due to oxygen scarcity and horrific scenes at hospitals tell us the havoc played by Covid in the country.
American medical expert Anthony Fauci says that India can overcome this situation only if a national lockdown is immediately announced and vaccination is taken up on a massive scale. The pandemic is refusing to come under control even after every State grappled with it by imposing curbs like curfews and lockdowns. The vaccination programme that was expected to move at a steady pace went out of hand as the Central government announced that it would vaccinate everyone in the 18 to 45 years age group, even though it had no clarity about vaccine availability.
It is estimated that at the present pace, it would take three years to inoculate the entire nation. Horrifying estimates also reveal that with time the virus will undergo dangerous mutations.
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Former US president, Donald Trump, had allocated 2000 crore USD for research and production of vaccine. America remains in a reassured situation today because of that singular act.
In comparison, the government of India announced the allocation of Rs 35,000 crore for covid vaccination but spent only 14 percent of that amount. In the name of the federal spirit, it is now leaving to States the burden of buying 50 percent vaccines. As a result only 3 percent of the country’s population got both doses of vaccine.
While a majority of countries in the World are going for universal free vaccination, the government of India caused the price of private vaccines to creep up to Rs 700 to Rs 1500 per dose. While following such incoherent vaccine policy, the Center is saying that there is no scope at all for the Supreme Court intervention in the matter. This is highly irrational.
On April 30 the Supreme Court had directed the Center to consider invocation of sections 92, 100 or 102 of the Patents Act that facilitates an increase in the production of emergency medicines. In its latest submission to the Supreme Court, the Center has stated that it could prove counter-productive to act under the powers arising out of the Patents Act, TRIPS agreement and Doha announcement. Hence the issue is being resolved through diplomatic methods, it said. Ironically, India and South Africa had advocated exemption to patents in October last year.
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The World Health Organization believes that when the rule is there for exceptional and emergency situations, it can be invoked under emergencies like this.
As the pandemic is sounding the drumbeat of death, the US is also concurring with the proposal for patent exemption. However, analysts are stating that patent exemption alone is not enough for overcoming this crisis. If production is to reach a stage where it can meet the huge demand, several other issues like transfer of technology, availability of crucial machinery, raw material and expert human resources will have to be tackled.
The fact is that India cannot manufacture Moderna and Pfizer vaccines without the transfer of mRNA technology, even if intellectual property rights are exempted.
The Center should adopt strategies that will help make the vaccines available to the majority of citizens. Along with that, the need of the hour is that the advanced countries should generously come forth to release their piled-up additional stocks of vaccines for the benefit of countries like India.
The country can wriggle out of this crisis only when the Center relaxes its intransigence to accommodate the views of the States also.
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