Health is a fundamental human right and it is government’s responsibility to ensure every human being lives fully and receives all healthcare services including disease (and infection) prevention, and disease (and infection) control services. Covid vaccination must be provided free to every human being if she or he wants it.
Government must procure vaccines for all people from the manufacturers at the lowest possible price, or nationalize vaccine manufacturing because important scientific vaccine development was done using public resources for both vaccines currently used in India (Covishield and Covaxin). Also, government must provide vaccine for free to every human being.
Background:
As Covaxin’s important research was done by ICMR, it is likely that the government will have the intellectual property rights. Perhaps that is why government has selected another manufacturer for Covaxin, Pune-based Haffkine institute. We demand that government should disclose if it holds the intellectual property rights and if yes, then allow every vaccine manufacturer in India and worldwide to manufacture it without delay to help save lives.
We demand:
i) Government of India must directly bulk procure vaccines efficiently from the manufacturer at a price which should not allow manufacturers to earn ‘super profits’ (Serum Institute head wished for it though). This cost price should be determined in an independent and transparent manner and sale price of vaccine should not be more than 150% of cost price (just like we determine the Minimum Support Price for farmers’ produce).
ii) Government should not allow separate pricing for central/ national government and state governments. Also, why is government not regulating and announcing prices rather letting industry announce prices?
iii) All vaccines be procided for free to the people – whether in private or public sector as it is fundamental duty of the government to protect its people from infections or diseases.
- Dr. G.G. Parikh, Medical Doctor, Member, National Executive, Socialist Party (India), Participated in 1942 Quit India Movement and went to jail
- Pannalal Surana, President, Socialist Party (India)
- Jayanti Panchal, Treasurer, Socialist Party (India)
- Sandeep Pandey, Vice President, Socialist Party (India)Faisal Khan, Member, National Executive, Socialist Party (India)
- Lubna Sarwath, General Secretary, Socialist Party (India), Telangana
- Surabhi Agarwal, Spokesperson, Socialist Party (India)
- Bobby Ramakant, Spokesperson, Socialist Party (India)
- Shreekumar, Farmer, Karnataka
- Brij Khandelwal, Socialist Thinker, Agra
- Arundhati Dhuru, National Alliance of People’s Movement
- Peehu Pardeshi, Faculty, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
- Sheeva Dubey, Faculty, D.Y. Patil International University, Pune
- Praveen Srivastava, Faculty, Queen’s College, Lucknow, Neev – Association for Serving and Promoting Social Cause
- Ankit Goyal, Co-convenor, Eco-Socialist Front
- Rajiv Yadav, Convenor, Lok Rajniti Manch
- Shashank Singh, Advocate, High Court and Supreme Court, Delhi
- Surmeet Maavi, Editor, Trolley Times, newspaper from the farmers’ movement protest site in Tikri
- Harshavardhan Purandare, Socialist Party (India), Maharashtra
- Rajat Vats, Socialist Party (India), Haryana
- Romi Mahajan, Socialist Party (India) Overseas Support Group
- Parul Shah, Socialist Party (India) Overseas Support Group
- Mohammad Imran, Socialist Party (India) Overseas Support Group
| 23. Shashank Singh, Delhi, Advocate on Record, Supreme Court |
| 24. Jai Kumar Mishra , Delhi, Nation First |
| 25. Sumeet Agarwal, New Delhi, Associate Professor, IIT Delhi |
| 26. Sneha Chandna , New Delhi , Social Worker |
| 27. Shreekumar, Udupi Karnataka, Sangatya Commune |
| 28. Rajat Vats, Haryana, Law student |
| 29. Mudit Shukla, Chandigarh, Oil & Gas |
| 30. Rosamma Thomas, Pune, Journalist |
| 31. S Chakraborty, Mumbai, IIT Bombay |
| 32. Shiva Shankar, Chennai, |
| 33. U S Pandey, Lucknow, Retired Government Officer |
| 34. Varadarajan M, Pune Maharashtra, Student amd trade union activist |
| 35. Martin Macwan, Ahmedabad, Navsarjan Trust |
| 36. Robby Sharna, Kanpur, Social activist |
| 37. Sudhakar Reddy, Lucknow, Business |
| 38. Pamela Philipose, New Delhi, Journalist |
| 39. Mohammad Imran, Lucknow UP and Ringwood, NJ, Retired |
| 40. Ram Puniyani, Mumbai, |
| 41. Mahesh Pandya, Ahmedabad, |
| 42. Babu S Rahman, California, |
| 43. Alok Putul, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Journalism |
| 44. Satinath Choudhary, New York, Save the world from Autocrats |
| 45. Satendra Kumar, Una, Himachal Pradesh, IIIT Una |
| 46. Scott Hutchins, Brooklyn, NY, Freelance Writer |
| 47. Ananya , Varanasi, Educator |
| 48. Dipankar, Mumbai, Scientist / TREELabs Foundation |
| 49. Muniza Khan, Varanasi, Researcher and social activist |
| 50. William Gould, UK, University of Leeds |
| 51. Jaya, Noida, |
| 52. Amit Singh, IIT Bombay, |
| 53. M. Rajaullah Quraishi, Chicago area, United for Peace |
| 54. Barbara White, 129 N Walnut St, Apt. 205, East Orange, NJ. 07017, |
| 55. Akhter Sadiq, Chicago , USA, Retired |
| 56. Prakash Louis, Varanasi, |
| 57. Wilfred Dcosta, New Delhi, Indian Social Action Forum – INSAF |
| 58. Chacko Anthony, Jharkhand, Arrupe Tribal Cultural Centre, Jharkhand India |
| 59. Tom Mangattuthazhe, Guwahati, UCFNEI(United Christian Forum. North East India) |
| 60. Laji Paul, Delhi, Pastor- Navjeevan Satsangh Sabha |
| 61. AK Goldsmith, Guwahati, Assam Christian Forum |
| 62. Harish C Karnick, Kanpur, Academic |
| 63. Alwyn D’Souza, Assam, |
| 64. Frazer Mascarenhas, Mumbai, Academic Administrator |
| 65. Dr. P. B. M. Basaiawmoit , Shillong, Consultant to North East East Dialogue Forum |
| 66. Sujata Jena, Bhubaneswar, All India Lawyers’Forum |
| 67. Shoeb Jagirdar, Jalna, Business |
| 68. Rajkumar Sinha , Jabalpur , Bargi Babdh Visthapit sangh |
| 69. Prajit Basu, Hyderabad, Retired Teacher |
| 70. Antony Sebasthiraj, Devakottai, Research Scholar |
| 71. Abhijit Mitra, Kolkata, Vidya Ashram, Varanasi |
| 72. Philip Pinto, Chandigarh, Christian Brothers |
| 73. George, Ahmedabad, |
| 74. Santhanam.A, Madurai, Advocate |
| 75. Devika J, Kerala, Feminist scholar |
| 76. Harsh Mander, Delhi, Aman Biradari |
| 77. Asha Jomis , India , Policy Analyst |
| 78. Shuchita, Sitapur, Socialist Party India |
| 79. Delphinal Baltazar, Coimbatore, Religious |
| 80. Dimple Oberoi Vahali, Shimla, |
| 81. Gaurav Kumar Rai, Mau, NA |
| 82. Shiv Prakash, Bangalore, Engineer, Bombardier |
| 83. Shanti Picardo, West Bengal, Teacher |
| 84. Prashant, Manor, Palghar Dt, Shanti Seva Mandal |
| 85. Sudhir Kumar Pandey , Lucknow , Service |
| 86. Father Anand Mathew , Varanasi , Cultural and social activist |
| 87. Roger Gaikwad, Guwahati, PASTOR |
| 88. ND Pancholi, Ghaziabad, ADVOCATE |
| 89. Fr. Telesphore Ekka, Ranchi, Jharkhand, SOCIAL WORKER |
| 90. Mer Ekeko, India, Independent |
| 91. William Stanley, Visakkhapatnam, ORISSA DEVELOPMENT ACTION FORUM |
| 92. Vijayendra Kadalabal, Bangalore, Yuva Shakti |
| 93. Dr. Neeti Bhai, Varanasi, NAPM |
| 94. Fasi Syed, Washington DC, IT – Software |
| 95. Margaret, vasai , social worker |
| 96. Harish Pandey, Hyderabad, Business |
| 97. Rajeev Yadav, Lucknow, Rihai Manch |
| 98. Mrityunjay , East Champaran , General Secretary, MGCUTA |
| 99. Sonika Krantiveer, Navi Mumbai, Social Worker |
| 100. Ronak M Soni, San Francisco, USA, Stanford University |
| 101. Suresh Rathaur, Varanasi, Manrega majdoor union |
| 102. Ipsita Manna, Kolkata, Student |
| 103. Divya Mangla, Delhi, Manager |
| 104. Kamakshi Mahajan, Jammu, Student |
| 105. Urmi, Mumbai , Student |
| 106. Dinu Veyil, Kerala, Research Scholar and Founder, Dhisha |
| 107. J Ranjith Kumar, Chennai, IIM Ahmedabad |
| 108. Mansee Bal Bhargava, Ahmedabad, Researcher-Educator |
| 109. Vidya Dinker, Mangalore, Karnataka, INSAF |
| 110. Ritesh Shukla, Lucknow, |
| 111. Brahma Singh, Palia, Banking |
| 112. Kushal Sharma, Indore, Student |
| 113. Sruti, Boston, |
| 114. Jose Kalapura, Patna, Research Scholar |
| 115. Thejashri, Chennai, |
| 116. Irfan Qayoom, Kanpur, Student/IIT Kanpur |
| 117. Hasan Abdullah, Delhi, |
| 118. Rimsha Hamza , Bangalore , |
| 119. Sundar Burra, New Delhi, IAS (Retd.) |
| 120. Pulkit Garg, Sri Ganganagar, Punjab Engineering College |
| 121. Manju Kulapuram, Patna, |
| 122. Aditya Singh, Delhi, Student |
| 123. Sohini Basu, Kolkata, NA |
| 124. Prof.Mohan Rao, Bangalore, Former professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU, |
| 125. Siddhartha Basu, Kolkata , Service |
| 126. P. Dasgupta, Kolkata, Service |
| 127. Dharmendra vishwakarma, Hardoi, Star krishi (hindi magazine) |
| 128. Tanu, Uttar Pradesh, |
| 129. Jyoti Punwani, Mumbai, Journalist |
| 130. Javed Anand, Mumbai, Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy |
| 131. Amitabha Basu, New Delhi, Retired scientist, CSIR-NPL, New Delhi |
| 132. Khyati Vats, Lucknow, |
| 133. Prof. B. Vivekanandan, Trivandrum, Former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University. |
| 134. V.S.Roy David, Coorg ,Karnataka, Organic Farmer |
| 135. Priyanka , Noida , Student |
| 136. Sonal Kellogg, Ahmedabad, Journalist |
| 137. Ghulam Faruki, New York, Physician |
| 138. Payal Dhar, Delhi, Journalist |
| 139. Kripal Singh Mandloi, Delhi, |
| 140. Alka Hingorani, Mumbai, Professor |
| 141. Dinesh Abrol, , |
| 142. Chhotebhai, National Convener, Indian Catholic Forum, Kanpur |
| 143. Sukla Sen, Mumbai, Peace Activist |
| 144. Amit Bhaduri, Former Professor Emeritus, JNU, Delhi. |
| 145. Hiren Gohain, Guwahati, Natun Podatik Magazine, |
| 146. Suresh Nautiyal |
| 147. K. Satchidanandan |
| 148. Arun Kamal |
| 149. Aarti Mishra |
| 150. Ramsharan Joshi, Freelance Journalist |
I can’t imagine anyone being turned away for lack of money to pay for the vaccine, no matter how small is the cost sought to be paid.
Why can’t they make it pay as like?
That way, hopefully, the rich will pay considerably more than whatever is being asked for towards defraying the cost of manufacturing and developing the vaccine.
-Dr. Satinath Choudhary
A full time activist for all progressive causes.
Trying to add whatever little energy i can towards saving the world from demonic autocrats and minions.
Basic health protection is human right
like one nation, one tax (which is not quite true), why not one nation one vaccination?
HEALTH CARE IS THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF THE CITIZENS. GOVERNMENT SHOULD PROVIDE COVID-19 RELATED MEDICINES FREE OF COST TO EVERY CITIZEN IRRESPECTIVE OF REGION, COLOUR AND CREED.
Free Yes. Alternatively, it can be pay as you wish realising that there is a cost to it. research have shown in other matters that in this charitable approach, there is possibility of more collection of funds.
To get the vaccine is everyone’s right without any discrimination!