Editor's Pick: May Day mayhem on vaccine drive

On the day of the scheduled opening of phase 3 of the COVID-19 vaccination programme to cover the entire adult population of the country there appears to be no clarity on supplies as several states have deferred the roll out through their public health systems. Only six states will be able to start the vaccination drive while the rest have delayed the exercise by a few days or are uncertain when they would be able to start as they are still facing a vaccine shortage. For the states that will start – Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Odisha – the vaccine drive will be limited to a few districts. The Maharashtra government said the process would start but would depend on supplies. On Friday, the Centre said that only some states which ‘have coordinated with vaccine makers’ for procurement of supply from the open market would start the drive. This statement comes even as several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Punjab, have written to the Centre seeking urgent replenishment of vaccine supplies. Tamil Nadu too said it has not received the required vaccines from the central government and thus had to defer the rollout. Private hospital chains such as Apollo Hospitals, Max Healthcare and Fortis Healthcare, meanwhile, said they would launch the third drive of vaccination at select locations, having procured vaccines directly from the manufacturers. On Friday the Supreme Court in an important hearing asked the government why it could not follow a national immunisation programme policy with respect to vaccines and how it could expect a sense of equity from the vaccine manufacturers. The court asked why the Centre had not procured 100% of the vaccines and equitably distributed them across the country but was instead leaving it to manufacturers. The Bench asked whether now, one State would get priority access over another in getting the vaccines. These developments come at a time when India crossed another grim milestone, becoming the first country in the world to register over 4 lakh infections in a single day. As many as 3,464 new deaths have also been reported. Universal vaccination, as experts have repeatedly stressed, is the best weapon and hope now against the virus. This rocky beginning down that road is a huge cause for concern and that marks this story out as our top pick of the day. Today's Editorials A timely warning: On Supreme Court intervention against clampdown on information Facts and figures: On India’s COVID-19 death count Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click here Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz What’s the name of the non-profit foundation founded by Kremlin critic Alexie Navalny, which prosecutors are now pushing a court in Russia to recognise it as “extremist”? 1. Russia Forward 2. Corruption Watch 3. Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) 4. Anti-Corruption Watchdog To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 01 MAY 2021 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( May Day mayhem on vaccine drive [May Day mayhem on vaccine drive] On the day of the scheduled opening of [phase 3 of the COVID-19 vaccination]( programme to cover the entire adult population of the country there appears to be no clarity on supplies as [several states have deferred the roll out]( through their public health systems. Only six states will be able to start the vaccination drive while the rest have delayed the exercise by a few days or are uncertain when they would be able to start as they are still facing a vaccine shortage. For the states that will start – Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Odisha – the vaccine drive will be limited to a few districts. The Maharashtra government said [the process would start]( but would depend on supplies. On Friday, the Centre said that only some states which ‘have coordinated with vaccine makers’ for procurement of supply from the open market would start the drive. This statement comes even as several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Punjab, have written to the Centre seeking urgent replenishment of vaccine supplies. Tamil Nadu too said it has not received the required vaccines from the central government and thus had to defer the rollout. Private hospital chains such as Apollo Hospitals, Max Healthcare and Fortis Healthcare, meanwhile, said they would launch the third drive of vaccination at select locations, having procured vaccines directly from the manufacturers. On Friday the Supreme Court [in an important hearing asked]( the government why it could not follow a national immunisation programme policy with respect to vaccines and how it could expect a sense of equity from the vaccine manufacturers. The court asked why the Centre had not procured 100% of the vaccines and equitably distributed them across the country but was instead leaving it to manufacturers. The Bench asked whether now, one State would get priority access over another in getting the vaccines. These developments come at a time when India crossed another grim milestone, becoming the first country in the world to register [over 4 lakh infections in a single day](. As many as 3,464 new deaths have also been reported. Universal vaccination, as experts have repeatedly stressed, is the best weapon and hope now against the virus. This rocky beginning down that road is a huge cause for concern and that marks this story out as our top pick of the day. [underlineimg]  Today's Editorials [Arrow] [A timely warning: On Supreme Court intervention against clampdown on information]( [Arrow] [Facts and figures: On India’s COVID-19 death count]( [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( [underlineimg]  Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz What’s the name of the non-profit foundation founded by Kremlin critic Alexie Navalny, which prosecutors are now pushing a court in Russia to recognise it as “extremist”? 1. Russia Forward 2. Corruption Watch 3. Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) 4. Anti-Corruption Watchdog  To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here]( Today's Best Reads [[The rising sun in India-Japan relations] The rising sun in India-Japan relations]( [[Coronavirus | Calamity in the capital] Coronavirus | Calamity in the capital]( [[Soli Sorabjee: a lover of jazz, court-craft and good food] Soli Sorabjee: a lover of jazz, court-craft and good food]( [[Government reworks Remdesivir allocation] Government reworks Remdesivir allocation]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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