Vaccine Diplomacy and Ugly Politics
Channel: Bits & Banter
Date: 11/04/2021

India has set some records in terms of manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines and also undertaking the largest ever vaccination drive in history. However, there are bigger and more broader challenges in store. For starters, if we take India's population to be around 135 crore of which 100 crore need vaccination, it would take about two years to complete, if we go with the present pace of 2 crore vaccinations a week. 

The challenges are obviously related to supply of vaccinations. The expectation was that we could generate up to 15 crore vials a month, but this number might still take up to 2 or 3 more months to achieve. Till such time, we need to go with the current pace only. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to be drawn into a political tug of war around Covid-19 though Congress leader Rahul Gandhi came up with the argument that India should not export when it cannot meet its own requirements. 

This borders on the facetious as India not only has international commitments under the UN charter but also needs to sell some of what its manufacturers are producing so that they can be viable. This is so because India is providing the vaccine free and has also capped the cost of the shot at Rs.250 at private clinics. Also, the numbers prove that the Opposition parties are merely raising a political issue where there is none. India has vaccinated more than 8.7 crore of its population till date and is hitting two crore a week. The total exports have been about 6 crore of which about half is part of its international commitments. 

And what's wrong if India tries to help out its neighbours in the region - countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan? Is it that the China threat is over now and India doesn't need to mend its fences with its neighbours? Or should India go the way of Joe Biden who has suddenly decided to stop exports of raw materials required for making the life-saving vaccine? The pandemic has taught us that interdependence is the only way ahead for the world. So, for once the Opposition should stand with the government and create a conducive atmosphere, instead of just using every ploy to win elections.