THREAD On the latest announcement on vaccines - 1. A disastrous course that will deter adoption, increase hesitancy and drive prices out of the reach of beleaguered states and people who need it most. All in the name of being market friendly
2. Did you notice the main ploy in the Phase 3 is that half the supplies will be based on market prices, delivered to state governments? The Centre will get the other half of the supplies at the fixed rate contract, leaving the other half for private profit gouging.
3. This will significantly depress vaccine adoption, especially among the high-risk groups. This also worsens India's vaccine problem by adding another dimension.
4. This is probably what Piyush Goyal meant by "managing demand" - use the market-based price to drive demand lower. Voila! You dont have a vaccine shortage any more! How smart!
5. So, opening the drive to 18+ population, a good move in itself, will likely be derailed by the liberalised pricing power handed over to companies. But wait, the price shock may well hit uptake even among this section. The "good" decision will thus be whacked by higher prices.
6. Meanwhile, state governments, which have already done the bulk of the heavy lifting in the pandemic, will be burdened with the higher prices for vaccines they will have to source from the “open” market.
7. Effectively, the latest vaccine policy is a cynical attempt by the desperate NaMo Govt to find an escape route from accountability in a national health emergency. This is ensured that it will only have to vaccinate 300 million from its kitty.
8. This would leave the bulk of the population at the mercy of the market. In effect, the NaMo Govt has applied a “market-based” solution to a public health crisis. In choosing this approach India stands alone in the comity of nations using a vaccine to fighting the pandemic.END
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