Money9 Edit | Production concerns as 18-45 jabs flagged off

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Well begun is usually half done, but not in this case. The Union government’s announcement of launching vaccination for all aged 18 and above began on Saturday, thanks to a few private hospitals such as Max, Fortis, and Apollo that could manage only a limited rollout. However, those who are waiting for a free jab at state hospitals are not so lucky. Several state governments have said they cannot start administering the vaccines to those between 18 and 45 from May 1, according to the schedule of the Centre.

All the states have pleaded a shortage of supplies. On Saturday, a number of private sector hospitals also said that they have no vaccines to administer to an expanding section of the population. Over the past few days, many of those in the 45+ age group returned home from state-run facilities without a shot after waiting for hours in queue simply because there were no vaccines.

In the absence of a sufficient number of shots, the launch of the expanded inoculation drive might remain a tokenism. The country has a total production capacity of 26 lakh vaccines per day, while as many as 79.65 lakh vaccine aspirants registered on the Co-Win portal on April 28, the first day of registration for the 18-45 years age group. The portal recorded 55,000 hits per second. Ignoring the strain on their budget, almost all state governments have placed orders for vaccines though none of them have yet got the additional consignments with which to cover the younger group.

The key to the success of the vaccination drive is the speed with which the population is covered, which in turn, is critically dependent on the production capacity of Covishield and Covaxin. Unless the shots are sufficiently available, all other debates will remain fruitless and painfully academic in nature.

One has to revisit the question of affordability too. For the common man, a jab of Covishield costs Rs 800-900 and that of Covaxin about Rs 1,250. If a family has four members, the cost of eight jabs will range between Rs 6,400 and Rs 10,000.