Keypoints:
- Manmohan Singh wrote to PM Modi saying that ramping up the vaccinations is the key to battle up the pandemic.
- He said that one must not look at absolute numbers but instead look at the total percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.
- Singh suggested that states should be given flexibility to define frontline categories who can be vaccinated even if they are below the age of 45.
- Currently, individuals below the age of 45 are eligible for Covid vaccination.
On Sunday, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote a letter to PM Modi on the Covid crisis. In the letter, he stressed that ramping up the vaccination is the key to battle up Covid-19. Also, he mooted steps to boost the supply invoking licensing provisions as in case of HIV/AIDS drugs.
In the letter written to PM Modi, Manmohan Singh said that one must not look at the absolute numbers, but, should focus on the total percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.
“The key to our fight against Covid-19 must be ramping up the vaccination effort. We must resist the temptation to look at the absolute numbers being vaccinated, and focus instead on the percentage of the population vaccinated,” he said in his letter.
Currently, India has vaccinated only a small fraction of the population. Noting this, Manmohan Singh said that he is certain that with the right policy design, “we can do much better and very quickly”.
Singh said: “The central government could retain 10% for distribution based on emergency needs, but other than that, the states should have a clear signal of likely availability so that they can plan their rollout.”
While making several suggestions, he said that “There are many things we must do to fight the epidemic but a big part of this effort must be ramping up the vaccination programme.”
Along with this, he also suggested that the states should be given some flexibility to define frontline categories who can be vaccinated even if they are below 45 years. Currently,individuals below the age of 45 are eligible for Covid vaccination.
He said that some states may want to designate school teachers, bus, three wheeler and taxi drivers, municipal and Panchayat staff and all the possible lawyers who have to attend the courts as frontline workers, and that they can be vaccinated even if they are below the age of 45.
Former PM said that the Centre should publicise placed orders of vaccine doses and accepted for delivery over the next six months.He said the government should indicate how vaccine supplies are to be distributed to states.
“If we want to vaccinate a target number in this period, we should place enough orders in advance so that producers can adhere to an agreed schedule of supply,” he noted.
He said that, at this time of a public health emergency, the government must proactively support vaccine producers to expand their manufacturing facilities quickly by providing funds and other concessions.
“I believe this is the time to invoke the compulsory licensing provisions in the law so that a number of companies are able to produce the vaccines under a licence. This, I recall, had happened earlier in the case of medicines to deal with the HIV/AIDS disease,” he said.
“We are facing an unprecedented emergency and, I understand, experts are of the view that this relaxation is justified in an emergency.
The relaxation could be for a limited period during which the bridging trials could be completed in India,” he said.
He said that he is forwarding his suggestions for consideration in a spirit of constructive cooperation in which he has always believed and has acted upon.
“Whether the government is open to good suggestions will be known from the action taken on the letter. Also, whether the government is serious about containing the spread of the pandemic will also be known from its response,” he said.
On Monday, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan responded to former PM Manmohan Singh’s letter. While tweeting the letter to Manmohan Singh, he said that,”History would be kinder to him if only his own party, Congress, had followed his advice to PM Narendra Modi.”
History shall be kinder to you Dr Manmohan Singh ji if your offer of ‘constructive cooperation’ and valuable advice was followed by your @INCIndia leaders as well in such extraordinary times !
Here’s my reply to your letter to Hon’ble PM Sh @narendramodi ji 👍 @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/IJcz3aL2mo
— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) April 19, 2021
Harsh Vardhan also asked Manmohan Singh to ask his party to follow his suggestions.Harsh Vardhan said Manmohan Singh’s advice to “not get tempted to go by absolute numbers, but to go by percentage of population covered is not correct” and asked the former prime minister to ask “junior members of Congress to follow your advice.”
“However, I am sure that you will agree with me that this is a practice that must be followed uniformly and junior members of your party too must follow your advice. Quite obviously, it cannot be that the discussion on total cases, active cases or mortality is based on absolute numbers, which the Congress party often tries to do, but the vaccination numbers continue to be touted as a percentage of the population covered,” Harsh Vardhan said in the letter he shot to Manmohan Singh.
He asserted that Manmohan Singh does understand the importance of vaccination, Harsh Vardhan said people in responsible positions in his party “do not seem to share your view.” The health minister said, “It is shocking that senior members of the Congress party are yet to utter a single word of gratitude towards our scientist community and vaccine manufacturers for empowering the world with vaccines.”
