-Newsclick.in Large-scale privatisation of the vaccination programme is happening, cutting of low-paying sections of the population. Yet, other discrepancies remain, calling for an audit by CAG. India is facing an acute Vaccine shortage. The impression that generally prevails is that this shortage is because while production capacity is slow to increase, there has been a sudden spurt in vaccine demand since vaccination is now open for the 18-44 years age group in...
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Jean Dreze, the Belgian-born hunger economics expert, interviewed by Sindhu Bhattacharya (Moneycontrol.com)
-Moneycontrol.com Jean Dreze, the Belgian-born hunger economics expert, on the devastation of Covid, what plagues MNREGA, central government’s relief measures, stimulus packages, vaccination drive and more. The big lesson from the havoc wrought by Covid-19 is that India must abandon the “fragmented” US model of healthcare, which is a colossal failure, according to developmental economist Jean Dreze. A Belgian-born hunger economics expert who has co-authored books with Nobel laureates Amartya Sen and...
More »A fatal war on transparency -Aniket Aga and Chitrangada Choudhury
-The Hindu Official secrecy on pandemic policies aggravates a crisis In August 2020, the Modi government constituted the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) as a nodal agency on all matters related to vaccine administration and rollout. Asked under the Right to Information (RTI) Act for details of the NEGVAC’s meetings, the Health Ministry, which anchors the expert group, replied that it does not know where the concerned documents...
More »India's Large Informal Workforce Must Be Prioritised in Our COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy -Divya Ravindranath and Vikas Kumar
-TheWire.in Informal workers are less likely to be vaccinated due to multiple barriers in the existing vaccination framework. The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns have had a devastating impact on India’s informal sector, which employs a vast majority of the country’s workforce. Even as India struggles to extend vaccine coverage amid severe shortage and a deadly second wave, it is critical that this process prioritises the millions of informal workers who are...
More »1.75 crore vaccine doses available with States, says Health Ministry
-The Hindu States urged to increase near-to-home vaccination centres. More than 1.75 crore COVID vaccine doses are still available with the States and Union Territories, the Health Ministry claimed in a release on Monday, adding that more than 2.73 lakh (2,73,970) vaccine doses are in the pipeline and will be received by the States and Union Territories within the next three days. “The Central government has so far provided, both through the free...
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