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With 2,57,299 fresh cases of Covid-19, India on Saturday witnessed the lowest rise in infection since April 21, even as 4,194 people died due to the pandemic in last 24 hours, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry. India's overall tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 2,62,89,290 with 29,23,400 active cases and 2,95,525 deaths so far. According to the Health Ministry, a total of 3,57,630 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours, with 2,30,70,365 being cured from Covid till date. ALSO READ: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/icmr-approved-home-test-kit-coviself-priced-at-250-company-claims-you-can-test-for-covid-19-in-15-minutes/articleshow/82799813.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">ICMR-approved home test kit CoviSelf priced at ₹250, company claims you can test for COVID-19 in 15 minutes</a> The Health Ministry said that a total of 19,33,72,819 people have been vaccinated so far in the country, including 14,58,895 who were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 32,64,84,155 samples have been tested up to May 21 for Covid-19. Of these 20,66,285 samples were tested on Friday. <div type="image" title="COVID Vaccine registration" msid="82853316" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People waiting during COVID-19 vaccination drive at KC General Hospital, in Bengaluru on Friday 21 May 2021.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> India registered record deaths due to Covid on Wednesday with 4,529 deaths -- the highest number of fatalities from Covid infection in any country since the coronavirus outbreak was reported in China's Wuhan in December 2019. It surpassed 4,468 deaths in the US on January 12, and earlier 4,211 in Brazil on April 6. These three are the worst-hit by the pandemic. After battling a brutal second wave for weeks, fresh <keyword id="8869954" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-cases">Covid cases</keyword> came down below the three lakh-mark for the first time on May 17 after touching record high of 4,14,188 on May 7. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/skyroot-aerospace-raises-11-million-in-funding-with-plans-to-have-vikram-1-on-the-launch-pad-by-mid-2022/articleshow/82788901.cms">Skyroot Aerospace raises $11 million in funding with plans to have Vikram-1 on the launch pad by mid-2022</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/cryptocurrency-polygon-founded-by-3-indians-has-touched-13-billion-in-market-cap/articleshow/82770196.cms">Cryptocurrency Polygon, founded by 3 Indians, has touched $13 billion in market cap</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/adani-green-energy-to-acquire-sb-energy-india/articleshow/82759578.cms">Adani Green Energy to acquire SB Energy India, boosting its renewable energy capacity by 4.9GW</a>

For the first time since April 16, daily COVID-19 cases in India fall below 2.6 lakh

<ul><li>Instead of allowing vaccine makers to charge customers different prices for the same vaccine, the government could offer subsidy for those who need it the most via direct cash transfer.</li><li>Allowing different prices offers an incentive to move the stock of vaccines to the buyers who pay more i.e. private hospitals.</li><li>That may leave a lot of poorer Indians waiting in queues for a long time to get their share of the jabs.</li><li>Even with direct cash transfer, there may be a need to cap prices and to declare hoarding as a criminal act to ensure that the kind of leakage seen in ration shops is not replicated in vaccines as well. </li><li>There are arguments against direct benefit transfer as well. </li></ul>The new prices for COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, has triggered a debate in India. Some argue that the prices are too high for everyone to be able to afford, and some say that it should be free for all and the government should bear the cost. The government already has a lot of expenses piling up as it manages the pandemic, and hence, there are also those who see merit in arguing that those who can pay for the vaccine, must pay for it. However, there is a problem with letting private and for-profit companies charge different prices from different customers. These are the prices fixed by Serum Institute of India (SII) for the Covishield vaccine: <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">If the vaccine is sold to… </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Price per dose </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Central government </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹150 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">State government </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹400 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Private hospitals </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹600 </td></tr></tbody></table> India is a developing country with millions of poor people with poor access to, and little money to spare for, healthcare. By allowing vaccine makers to choose the pricing based on who is buying the vaccine, the government may give the producer an incentive to direct more vaccines to the more expensive private hospitals, whereas a majority of the country still depends on state-run facilities. “Pricing should be uniform. Both the central and state governments should pay the same price for the vaccine. The government should also cap the price of the vaccine sold at private hospitals. Even the administrative charges should be capped. Otherwise a family of four may end up paying a lot for vaccination,” Doctor Sanjeev Bagai, Chairman and Managing Director of the New Delhi-based Nephron clinic told Business Insider. “Direct benefit transfer is also an option. And the cost of vaccination should be covered by all insurance companies,” Bagai added. <div type="image" title="Kolkata:Beneficiaries stands in a queue outside a health centre to receive a dos..." msid="82200586" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Beneficiaries stands in a queue outside a health centre to receive a dose of Covid-19 vaccine, amid surge in coronavirus cases, in Kolkata.Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)(&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The case for direct reimbursement for the cost of vaccine One may argue that there are covenants in place to ensure that the company sends an agreed amount of supply to government facilities. However, decades of similar policy experiments have taught us that such agreements are inefficient and provide a fertile ground for corrupt practices. The failure of such mechanisms gave birth to the idea of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). It could be deployed here as well, given that patients coming in for vaccination are already being asked to submit their Aadhaar (unique identity number) details. Vaccine makers should charge the same price from all customers. Those who access it via government agencies, or any other filter as may be applicable, should be allowed to get the subsidy reimbursed to their bank account. This has been effectively used in transferring other subsidies like the ones for cooking gas and fertilisers. The government’s own estimate is that it has saved over ₹1.78 lakh crore ($25 billion) in subsidy leakage because of DBT. The argument against direct benefit transfer There are two arguments here against direct benefit transfer. One from R Ramakumar, Professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, who wants vaccines to be free for all as it is in countries like US, UK and China. The other argument is from Dr Arvind Virmani, an economist and the former Chief Economic Advisor to the government of India, who wants drug prices to be decontrolled totally and do a direct cash transfer on a larger scale and not limit it to vaccines alone. “Supply chain has to be developed. It can’t be done overnight. The data on production and sale of vaccines is transparently available from the producers, for the government, Astrazeneca and others to see. To introduce DBT now, it would mean taking out funding from other budgeted activities like infrastructure construction. Right now, vaccination is working smoothly. Don’t disrupt it,” he told Business Insider. Aside from the fact this may add a bureaucratic layer, Ramakumar’s contention is that by allowing state-run facilities to charge less, and private hospitals to charge more, there is an incentive of corruption in distribution. India already has decades of bad experience. from the public distribution system a.k.a the ration shops, where the subsidised stock is moved out to be sold at a higher price. A cap on prices, and a crackdown on hoarders by making it a criminal act, may be necessary to counter this, even with reimbursement of the vaccine cost via direct transfer to bank accounts. Virmani’s take is that there is a case to be made for both deregulating drug prices, as well as direct cash transfer for a variety of reasons, in India but that can’t be debated in the middle of a pandemic. “All drugs are controlled. We should be discussing decontrol of drugs. That’s not the problem right now. For the last 12 months, I have been saying you can create a direct cash transfer in 4 months. It should still be considered,” he added. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/while-covid-19-is-making-millions-gasp-for-breath-in-india-state-administrations-are-trying-to-hoard-oxygen/articleshow/82199390.cms">While COVID-19 is making millions gasp for breath in India, state administrations are trying to hoard oxygen</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/covid-19-lockdowns-and-curfews-affecting-worlds-fourth-largest-automobile-market/articleshow/82195326.cms">There is a virtual lockdown in the world’s fourth largest automobile market</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/revolut-appoints-former-flipkart-exec-paroma-chatterjee-as-its-india-ceo/articleshow/82181199.cms">Revolut starts India operations, appoints former Lendingkart, Flipkart executive Paroma Chatterjee as CEO</a>

If the COVID-19 vaccine prices are too high for some, then why not use direct benefit transfer

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For the first time since April 16, daily COVID-19 cases in India fall below 2.6 lakh

IANS

If the COVID-19 vaccine prices are too high for some, then why not use direct benefit transfer

Sriram Iyer

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