How India's vaccine drive crumbled and left a country in chaos

Initially the federal government negotiated prices with manufacturers, distributed them to states and restricted them to priority groups like the elderly and healthcare workers. Starting May 1, everyone over 18 is eligible for a vaccine while state governments and private hospitals can purchase doses directly from manufacturers for people from 18 to 45 years -- triggering a desperate free-for-all rush to secure shots from an already strapped market. His government says the new rules make “pricing, procurement, eligibility and administration of vaccines open and flexible.” Health experts and officials in opposition-controlled states say the plan passes the buck to regional governments rather than addressing the pandemic directly. Widening the rollout of shots is also questionable when India is running low on stocks, with developers like Serum Institute of India Ltd. saying the U.S. has been hoarding ingredients and new supplies could potentially be months away... While it’s easy to pinpoint now, the Modi government missed chances to concentrate on supporting vaccine production and scale up its decrepit health system. An over-reliance on an app-based technology made it hard for its poor and rural citizens to sign up, and Modi’s plan didn’t utilize India’s million-strong army of trained health workers -- the Accredited Social Health Activists, or ASHAs -- to reach its vast rural hinterland, a strategy that made its polio vaccination such a success. Instead, government officials focused on making a show of India’s ability to help the world.