Private Sector Should Be an Ally in India’s Big Vaccine Push
The government can’t quell one of the world’s biggest Covid-19 outbreaks on its own.
The government has only just completed a vaccine delivery dry run.
Photographer: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images
The Indian state faces one of the world’s most formidable challenges: rolling out a Covid-19 vaccination program for 1.3 billion people. To succeed, many things have to go right in a country that usually gets a lot wrong. The government would be wise to enlist the country’s private sector in this gargantuan effort — and soon.
The vaccine rollout is already off to a shaky start. The government last week announced emergency approval for two vaccines. The first, a joint effort from AstraZeneca PLC and Oxford University, is being produced by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. The other has been developed by the Indian company Bharat Biotech International Ltd.