Pakistan’s decision to allow private imports of COVID-19 vaccines for sale on the open market has triggered concerns that the move could cause inequality and open the door to corruption. Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has fixed the prices for the two injections at about 8,449 rupees, a hefty amount that many in Pakistan may be unable to afford.
While civilised countries across the world governments are procuring the vaccines and administering them to the citizens for free, and it is the state’s responsibility. The Pakistani government's decision of allowing for vaccines to be sold on the open market will open a window of corruption as the temptation will grow to sell government-procured vaccines to private hospitals. As we have recently seen in many government hospitals, vaccines have gone missing and no one from officials has any idea where did it go.
As the global price set for the Sputnik-V vaccine is $10 per dose, and this means that internationally two doses of Sputnik-V are available at $20. However, the approved price for its commercial sale in Pakistan is 160% higher than the international price. It may be pointed out that in India, a single dose of Gamalya Centre/Sputnik-V vaccine cost less than INR734. This decision of our government to allow the private sector to make a profit over its citizens' lives is very sadistic which must be condemned on every platform.
Democratic Students Federation Pakistan demands that government must act responsibly as it is the responsibility of the government that they must procure and distribute vaccines among its citizens for free. Not just camps are set up at schools, colleges, universities, factories and offices but also teams of health workers should visit door to door for the vaccination of citizens. If billions can be spent on single-day events by the government then why can't be done the same for the lives of millions of people living in this country.
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