In the course of ceaseless deliberations on Covid vaccines so far, if the issue of scarcity has been hotly debated, the other one is about price. It took nearly three months for the Centre to read the Covid ‘development’ followed by a thought process over the suggestion made several times by many among the country’s medical fraternity including the IMA that given the gargantuan size of population, it will be wise to open the gate for all adults instead of sticking to the age-wise plan. While the ‘wisdom’ arrived finally on April 19 (exactly 3 months and 3 days after launch of national Covid vaccination drive), a fresh round of confusion over what exactly is the price going to be if taken from private medical facilities is still persisting, despite clarifications from Union Health Ministry and manufacturers. Pleas of the opposition to make it free for all were labeled as efforts to ‘politicize the issue’ and straightaway rejected. However, there still exist a number of argumentative Indians who prefer to speak out about the anomalies openly and this time Arvind Subramanian, who served as Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) to the current Central government during its first innings has expressly stated through a series of tweets that the Centre and not states/UTs should bear full expenses of Covid vaccines. The suggestion couldn’t be rubbished off easily as routinely since it has come from a front-ranking apolitical personality widely respected for his depth of knowledge on contemporary issues of Indian economy.

 

In a very short yet convincing explanation, Subramanian has reasoned that coronavirus does not obey state borders, the Centre has better access to resources than states and fiscal costs to be incurred in delivering this great national responsibility are trivial compared to saving lives and preserving economic activities. The former CEA went on to add there should be only one price for vaccine jabs all over the country and that should be zero. Drawing attention of stakeholders in more sharp words that tried to focus on on-ground implementation difficulties of a multi-tier vaccine pricing policy, he said such differentiation is unnecessary and unethical and will invite complexities the country can’t afford at a time when it’s a race against time. Meanwhile, an extraordinary instance of magnanimity has found a place in several newspapers where an elderly physically challenged man in Kerala whose occupation is beedi rolling has donated Rs 2 lakh which is nearly the entire amount of his total life’s savings so that his fellow citizens can receive the doses free. What a contrast vis-à-vis the newly launched pay-for-vaccine policy.

 

It’s not a question of altruism. To save lives and livelihoods at the earliest, vaccines must be made free for citizens, at least for those who can’t afford.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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