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Why India should roll out Covid-19 vaccine in the open market and ramp up its commercial export
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Why India should roll out Covid-19 vaccine in the open market and ramp up its commercial exportBy
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Synopsis
India needs to innovate and play a larger role in vaccine distribution. First, it must try harder to inoculate more of its citizens as quickly as possible and simultaneously demonstrate its soft power by supplying more and more vaccines to the rest of the world.
A month and a half after Covid-19 vaccination was rolled out in India, the government has allowed private hospitals to enter what was hitherto a no-go zone: vaccination on payment basis.
It is our wits against their genes.” This succinct observation of Joshua Lederberg on microbes was published in the journal Science in 2000. Lederberg was very well qualified to make this comment. He had won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1958 for his pioneering work on microbial genetics. He also cautioned against using war like metaphors such as ‘eradication’ loosely against the microbes, reminding us that most microbes will coexist with us in an ecological balance.
In establishing such a relationship, microbes are propelled by ecological and evolutionary forces. Ecological changes bring them into contact with human species when deforestation brings forest-dwelling microbes into contact with humans, directly or via an intermediate animal host. The ability of the microbial species to survive subsequently depends on its ability to evolve to a state where it can continue to infect a host species but does not wipe it out. To be so virulent as to eliminate the host species would
On March 1, India launched the second phase of its Covid-19 vaccination programme, targeting 27 million citizens above the age of 60 and those above 45 with co-morbidities. Looking back, how did the c
In a “pandemic situation, credible evidence examined by reliable regulatory agencies in other countries may be accepted to fast-track approvals,” said K Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India.
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NEW DELHI, March 1, (AP): India is expanding its coronavirus vaccination drive beyond health care and front-line workers, offering the shots to older people and those with medical conditions that put them at risk. Among the first to receive a vaccine on Monday was Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Those now eligible include anyone older than 60, as well as those over 45 who have ailments such as heart disease or diabetes that make them vulnerable to serious COVID-19 illness.
In this photo provided by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s twitter handle, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is administered a COVID-19 vaccine in New Delhi, India, March 1. India is expanding its COVID-19 vaccination drive beyond health care and front-line workers, offering the shots to older people and those with medical conditions that put them at risk. ( AP)