India's Covid-19 vaccination challenge needs a private sector helping hand

The media and opposition figures have justifiably asked why Bharat Biotech's candidate was approved at the same time as AstraZeneca's, when it hasn't even finished or published results from Stage III

The Indian state faces one of the world’s most formidable challenges: rolling out a Covid-19 vaccination program for 1.3 billion people. To succeed, many things have to go right in a country that usually gets a lot wrong. The government would be wise to enlist the country’s private sector in this gargantuan effort — and soon.

The vaccine rollout is already off to a shaky start. The government last week announced emergency approval for two vaccines. The first, a joint effort from AstraZeneca PLC and Oxford University, is being produced by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine