Long-awaited roll-out begins

Questions linger about implementation of vaccine programme

The long-awaited second stage of India’s Covid vaccination programme has finally arrived. The good news is that the government has recognised that a roll-out on this scale, which aims to get 300 million people vaccinated by the summer, will not be possible without the involvement of the private sector. As a result, the official announcement mentioned not just the thousands of government-run vaccination centres but also the use of 10,000 private hospitals that are part of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, as well as those empanelled under the Central Government Health Scheme and by various state governments. This is a crucial