Realistically, How Can India Expand COVID Vaccine Production Quickly? https://thewire.in/government/realistically-how-can-india-expand-covid-vaccine-production-quickly Dinesh Abrol and Thomas Franco
Public sector production units need to be used efficiently, with help from the private sector.
In the beginning of 2000s, 80% of India’s vaccines for the Universal Immunisation Programme were sourced from the public sector. Today, 90% are sourced from the private sector at a higher cost.
Today, the private sector is itself getting subsidies and advance funding from the government. A grant of Rs 65 crore has been made to Bharat Biotech to repurpose one of its production facilities in Hyderabad to produce Covaxin. This is in addition to government advances of Rs 1,500 crore to Bharat Biotech and Rs 3,000 crore to SII to expand their existing facilities.
The IVC in Chengalpet, Tamil Nadu cost almost Rs 900 crore to set up. Established in 2012, the IVC is yet to produce a single dose of any vaccine. The IVC needs only Rs 100 crore and some handholding by consultants to start the local production of COVID-19 vaccines, conversations with sources at the unit have shown. Joint ventures can be tried out.
The present government has now initiated moves to make it functional through a public-private partnership. Unfortunately, the private sector has been less than ready to coexist with the functioning public sector. In an interview to Down to Earth magazine in 2009, Cyrus Poonawalla of SII criticised the suggestion that government funding be used to make public sector vaccine manufacturers GMP-compliant, calling it a “waste of money”.