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It is now safe to conclude that the Union government grossly erred in not procuring vaccines in time. It, however, made amends by decentralising the vaccine procurement process a month ago. Unfortunately, only a handful of states have risen to the challenge.

As a consequence, key virus-hit states are yet to get their act in order. Delhi, devasted by the virus, has lost crucial time in actioning free-market procurement. Federal India needs to be transparent about its vaccination order book. Maharashtra has taken the lead for others to follow.

Close on the heels of the BMC floating a global expression of interest (EoI) to buy 50 lakh vaccines, the Municipal Corporations of Thane and Navi Mumbai on May 15 took action to procure vaccines independently in a bid to speed up the inoculation drive

Earlier, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh too floated vaccine tenders.

The Union government announced last month ‘liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 strategy of Covid-19 vaccination from May 1. The government order empowered states and Union Territories to procure additional coronavirus vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers. Various chief ministers had petitioned the Union government to decentralise the vaccine policy.

Delhi chief minister on Saturday announced shutting down of state-run vaccination centres for 18-44 age group. He urged the Centre to immediately release additional vaccines. There is no word yet out on the status of Delhi’s vaccine order book. Delhi government had announced on April 30 that it had placed orders for three lakh vaccine doses.

India has suffered immensely on account of vaccine hesitancy, both, at the citizen and the institutional level. We can now ill afford to be consumed by vaccine politics.

Transparency is the need of the hour. A state-wise order book with clear distribution timelines in the public domain is imperative for restoring citizen confidence. Time, a key virus mitigation factor, is running out!