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By Krishna N. Das
NEW DELHI, June 7 (Reuters) - India's COVID-19 immunisation
campaign has struggled to keep pace with demand, especially
after a dramatic second wave of infections has left hospitals
inundated with patients and killed more than 180,000 people
since April.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday the federal
government would offer free COVID-19 shots to all adults, having
faced criticism from health experts and the country's highest
court for his inconsistent vaccine polices.
HOW IS INDIA'S VACCINATION PROGRAMME DOING?
The world's second most populous country has administered
more than 231 million vaccinations since starting the campaign
in the middle of January. That is only behind China and the
United States.
Still, India has given at least one dose to just 14% of its
1.35 billion citizens, a much lower proportion than in countries
such as Britain, the United States and Brazil. India has given
the required two doses to less than 5% of its estimated 950
million adults.
It is currently using domestically made doses of the
AstraZeneca PLC vaccine and Indian company Bharat
Biotech's Covaxin.
WHY INDIA TURNED FROM VACCINE EXPORTER TO IMPORTER?
India - the world's biggest producer of vaccines for polio,
diphtheria and other diseases - sold or donated more than 66
million COVID-19 vaccine shots to 95 countries until the middle
of April.
But as infections started rising from around mid-March in
India, the clamour for vaccines at home also increased. India
then started looking for foreign vaccines made by companies such
as Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc
and Johnson and Johnson.
None of the U.S. companies has formally applied to sell to
India, though Pfizer is in active talks with the government.
Millions of doses of Russia's Sputnik V have arrived in the
country and its commercial sale is expected to start from next
week.
The United States has also pledged to donate some
AstraZeneca doses to India.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE POLICY REVERSALS?
* India initially planned to vaccinate only 300 million of
its health/front-line workers and the most vulnerable in the
first six to eight months of the year. But Modi expanded the
programme to all adults from May 1, though supplies were not
meant to rise until June, leading to widespread shortages across
the country.
* Modi's government asked individual states to buy vaccines
from domestic manufacturers or import the shots themselves to
inoculate their adults aged below 45 from May 1 onwards. Many
states floated global tenders to import vaccines but none could
secure doses via that route. Delhi's chief minister complained
Indian states were made to compete against each other
internationally for a scarce commodity.
Modi reversed the policy on Monday, saying the federal
government would offer vaccines to all adults free of charge
starting June 21. Rates for private hospitals - catering to
those willing to pay for their shots - will be capped.
Modi said in a televised address all vaccine decisions have
been taken based on consultations with state leaders.
* Modi's government placed no advance orders for vaccines
from companies such as the Serum Institute of India (SII), the
maker of the AstraZeneca shot, before it was approved in early
January. It signed a purchase deal with SII nearly two weeks
after the company's licensed version of the vaccine was
authorised for emergency use.
Last week, the government placed its first advance order for
a vaccine still undergoing Phase 3 trials, as it tries to speed
up the immunisation drive.
* Until the second wave hit India ferociously, health
officials had repeatedly said there was no need to vaccinate all
adults. But in the past few weeks, the government has said all
adults would be immunised for COVID-19 by December.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das
Editing by Bernadette Baum)
