May 19, 2021 India’s messy vaccination strategy, unlike any other in the world, is now pitting its own states against each other.
After the Narendra Modi government announced a “liberalised” policy on April 19, Indian states can now directly buy Covid-19 vaccines from manufacturers. In the face of an acute shortage of doses of Covisheild and Covaxin, the two India-made vaccines currently approved for emergency use, some state governments have now floated “global tenders” shots. States like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Kerala are trying to directly buy vaccines from international vaccine makers, in the hope that these shots would be given a fast-tracked approval in India.