Vaccine import by private companies

EDITORIAL: As Covid-19 pandemic surged last April, an anonymous poem that went viral on social media drew attention to inequities of the healthcare system in these lines: “I heard that we are in the same boat. But it’s not that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.” Federal minister Asad Umar, who heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), seemed to be reflecting the same sentiment when last week, he spoke of complaints emanating from Karachi about influential people receiving vaccine jabs meant for frontline healthcare professionals. That though is not surprising in this country where the elite are used to claiming privileged treatment as their entitlements.

The government has now rightly decided to allow private companies to import vaccines. This should help ensure that those who can afford do not try to jump the line, and also supplement the government effort to quickly cover as many people as possible. Seeing the rich and powerful getting jabs could encourage greater acceptably of Covid-19 vaccines as well. However, given unbridled sale of spurious/substandard drugs in this country there are valid concerns about the quality of vaccines procured by private companies. It is good to note that only registered vaccines of credible pharmaceutical companies are to be permitted, and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan is to strictly monitor the process of vaccinations and maintain record of every person/purchaser. All this is important to have a clearer picture of the missed or protected targets. At this point, though, the government has refrained from fixing a price for privately imported vaccines in the absence of a reference price in the international market. Since the buyers are almost all governments which invested in research and manufacture they get concessional prices. Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan has offered the assurance that once a price reference becomes available the government would review the prices being charged.

As per NCOC’s plan, 500,000 doses of Sinopharma vaccine received from China are being administered to healthcare workers, while another1.1million doses of that vaccine have already been ordered. The World Health Organization’s COVAX Facility is to provide cost-free 17 million doses of different vaccines by the end of March aimed at covering 20 percent of the population. Orders have also been placed with several countries for additional supplies. These vaccines are to be dispensed free of cost in a phased manner. The registration of people over 65 years of age is to start in a few days time, followed by the above 60 age group and then the rest of the vulnerable section of the population. A detailed calendar of when and how that is to be done is also in order. Meanwhile, the need for expediting the vaccination campaign cannot be emphasized enough in view of the emergence of many variants of the coronavirus, presenting newer challenges.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021