India Coronavirus Dispatch: Private market to see a long wait for vaccines

Thousands skip vaccination, the need to think global for vaccines, a look at how the pandemic affected women's work in Delhi, and more-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Why vaccines won't come to the private market anytime soon

India is not open to bringing vaccines to the private market due to limited stocks and a global urgency to inoculate priority groups, according to a report in ThePrint.

The government's partnership with the private sector played a key role in ramping up Covid-19 testing capacity but that will not work for vaccination, a top health ministry official told ThePrint. There are now plans "right now" to open up the vaccines to the private market as the vaccines are not available in excess to provide them "for the groups who don't need it urgently", the official said. Read more here

Tens of thousands fail to turn up for vaccination

In the first three days of India's ambitious goal to inoculate over a billion people, tens of thousands of health workers failed to turn up to get their shots, according to a report in Aljazeera.

In the first three days of the drive in Delhi, only 53 per cent of the people expected came for the shots, according to a health official. In the same period, the turnout was just 16 per cent in Tamil Nadu. At a community health centre in Rohtak district in the northern state of Haryana, only 29 out of 100 people expected showed up. Suneela Garg, a member of the coronavirus task force for Delhi said its early days and it is understandable people are waiting to see how the vaccines fare. Read more here

Health workers not on daily list can now get vaccinated

Healthcare workers whose names were not on the list of beneficiaries at Delhi's vaccination centres, but were registered on the Co-Win platform, are now being vaccinated, according to a report in The Hindu.

This move comes after the Centre's directions to all states and officials expect the daily vaccine recipient count to increase. The government has allowed an “allot beneficiary” feature in Co-Win app for this change. The feature has been added to "facilitate maximum utilisation of staff deployed at the session sites so that they can cater to an optimal number of beneficiaries per session”. Read more here 

While offering vaccines, think global and ignore geography: Expert

Demand for vaccines is huge and the two shots that have been approved—Covaxin and Covishield—alone cannot meet the demand, said public health expert Gajendra Singh in an opinion piece for The Indian Express. 

Globally many vaccines have proven their safety and efficacy, such as US-based Pfizer and Moderna along with Russian vaccine Sputnik V. The US ones, however, don't suit India's requirements. Pfizer and Moderna require to be stored at -70 degree Celsius, a major logistical challenge. The Russian candidate, Sputnik V, suits Indian requirements of the Indian landscape with two forms. First, a liquid form which would have to be stored at minus 18 degrees Celsius and second, a freeze-dried form, which can be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius. The latter was developed especially for transportation to remote places. Sputnik V could be a suitable choice for Indian conditions.

Another aspect to consider is the price. While the Pfizer vaccine costs $37 or Rs 2,719 per shot, Sputnik V will cost less than $10 or Rs 700 per shot for national and international markets. Collaboration is key and India should offer the most effective vaccines irrespective of the geography of origin, the opinion piece said. Read more here

How the pandemic impacted women in Delhi

The Covid-19 pandemic has likely upended millions of lives in India. Women are bearing the brunt of the disruption. This report in IndiaSpend provides a glimpse into how the pandemic impacted women in the national capital through a series of photos. See here