Asthe second wave of covid19 is spreading across India like anything, FormerPrime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,putting forward five suggestions to the government to tackle the situation.
ManmohanSingh in his letter urged the PM Modi to ramp up the vaccination program andgive approval to the vaccines cleared by European agencies or USFDA.
ManmohanSingh, "I have some suggestions in this regard. In making them I want toemphasise that I am putting them forward for your kind consideration in aspirit of constructive cooperation in which I have always believed and actedupon."
Inhis suggestions, the former Prime Minister said that the government shouldpublicise what are the firm orders for doses placed on different vaccineproducers and accepted for delivery over the next six months and the governmentshould indicate how this expected supply will be distributed across statesbased on a transparent formula.
"Thecentral government could retain 10 per cent for distribution based on emergencyneeds, but other than that, states should have a clear signal of likelyavailability so that they can plan their roll out," he said.
Inthe vaccination, states should be given some flexibility to define categoriesof frontline workers who can be vaccinated even if they are below 45 years ofage. India has emerged as the largest vaccine producer in the world, thanks topolicies adopted by the government and robust intellectual property protection.
"The capacity is largely in the private sector. At this moment of a publichealth emergency, the Government of India must proactively support vaccineproducers to expand their manufacturing facilities quickly by providing fundsand other concessions", he added.
Healso said that this is the time to invoke the compulsory licensing provisionsin the law, so that a number of companies are able to produce the vaccinesunder a licence. Since domestic supplies are limited, any vaccine that has beencleared for use by credible authorities such as the European Medical Agency orthe USFDA, should be allowed to be imported without insisting on domesticbridging trials.
"Weare facing an unprecedented emergency and, I understand, experts are of theview that this relaxation is justified in an emergency. The relaxation could befor a limited period during which the bridging trials could be completed inIndia. All consumers of such vaccines could be duly cautioned that thesevaccines are being allowed for use based on the approval granted by therelevant authority abroad." He said.
ManmohanSingh said that its over a year that people have been grappling with theCovid-19 pandemic, and with the second surge that we are currently witnessing,people are beginning to wonder when their lives will get back to normal.