Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Thank You , Chief Ministers,

 


 

 

Thank you for moving towards a consensus on CENTRALIZED PURCHASE OF VACCINES, as suggested I my following e-mails :


Ø  Vaccine Policy : Supreme Court elaborates ……………………….[ 02 June 2021 ]

Ø   Apple for Apple ? Vaccine against Vaccine ? …………........[ 23 May 2021 ]

Ø  Accelerating Learning / Improvising / Course-correcting …[ 18 May 2021 ]

Ø   Vaccine : a Case of Missing Data……………………………....[ 09 Apr 2021 ]

Ø  Voting and Vaccination : Compare and Contrast …………………[ 18 Oct 2020 ]

Ø  Thank You, Adar Poonawala …………………………………………  …[ 26 Sept 2020 ]

Ø   A Nightmare come true ? ……………………………………...[ 18 Sept 2020 ]

Ø       Rationing of Covid Vaccine ? ……………………………………………....[ 06 July 2020 ]

 

  

Context :

Govt considers single jab-purchase channel  /  Hindustan Times  /  04 June 2021


Extract :

Ø  Is the Centre considering procuring vaccines on behalf of the states? According to three people familiar with the matter, it is discussing the modalities of a centralised channel for vaccine procurement. The agency in charge of this channel will negotiate terms with vaccine manufacturers, and supply jabs on a pro rata basis to states, the people added, asking not to be named.

Ø  The chief ministers of some states, including Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan have taken a public position that the Centre should procure vaccines centrally after global tenders raised by many states evoked no real response. Some large pharma companies, including Pfizer and Moderna have also told states that they prefer dealing with the federal government.

Ø  With vaccines in short supply, the result has been chaotic, with not enough jabs to go around. The widely varying charges levied by private hospitals presented another problem. The Supreme Court on Wednesday termed the policy for 18-45 year olds “arbitrary and irrational”.

Ø  In a letter to chief ministers, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said global vaccine manufacturers were unwilling to get into supply contract with individual states. “The best option available is for the Government of India to centrally procure the vaccines and distribute it among the States so that our citizens are vaccinated at the earliest,” he said in the letter, a copy of which has been reviewed by HT.

Ø  Similar sentiments have been expressed by chief ministers of Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Punjab. On May 26, Kejriwal tweeted that the global tenders by states could not elicit any vaccine manufacturer. Hence, the Centre should give vaccines to state as per their needs.

Ø  …” it is certain that a collective negotiation will reduce to cost of vaccines by 25%,”

Ø  On May 31, Vijayan wrote to 11 chief ministers “in the spirit of Cooperative Federalism” demanding the Centre to take the responsibility of procurement. On May 24, he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that competition among states to procure vaccines would push up their prices.

Ø  Audit and consulting firm EY India, in the latest edition of Economy Watch, said that if the Centre procures vaccines, the average price would be much lower than if individual states get involved. Conservatively, it estimates savings of over 43,000 crore or 40% of the total cost.

Ø  DK Srivastava, chief policy advisor of EY India said: “This cost enhancement, which may be higher if the average vaccine price increases even more, is clearly avertible apart from avoiding the confusion ensuing from states’ involvement in vaccine procurement and implementation.

Ø  Union Budget 2021-22 allocated 35,000 crore for vaccination programme.

===================================================

 With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuruu.com  /  04 June 202

================================================

PS :

Of late, there has been a lot of rightful criticism that poor / rural citizen without a smartphone ( or a PC ) and lacking internet connection, are unable to REGISTER on CoWin platform

This is apart from the issue of non-availability of vaccine at many VDC ( Vaccine Delivery Centres ), leading to even tech-savvy  citizen spending hours at a time to find the desired combination ( option ) of :

>  Location ( desired Delivery Centre )

>  Date      ( desired Time )

It is just impossible to find the desired COMBINATION at first attempt. Even after several attempts, what Server gives you, is a poor COMPROMISE to put up with 

If this SELECTION OPTION was removed from CoWin, rest of the Registration is simple, taking a few minutes

In one of the e-mails listed above, I had suggested that CoWin server sends out an SMS ( to such a "simply-registered" person ), allotting a specific VDC ( as near to residence of the registered ) and specific Date / Time . No option !

Question :

How to deliver an SMS to a citizen without any mobile ( smart or feature ), who has, somehow managed to register by going ( and seeking help from ) to a, 

>   CSC ( Common Service Centre )  - 4 lakh 

>   Family Doctor - millions

>   Post Office (  1.2 lakh )

>   Ration Shop  (  5.3 lakh , most with Point of Sales terminal )

>   Health Centres ( 41,215 )


Can such a VACCINATION APPOINTMENT NOTIFICATION (  VAN ) , be delivered on his TV ?


In India, there are ( estimated ) 290 million households , of which, as of now, some 210 million have TVs 

We know that TV Channels and TV Service Providers, keep delivering " messages " to subscribers through TV SET-TOP BOX ( which is, essentially a small computer )

This suggestion may not be feasible to implement in next few months

But , with COVID, we are in for a LONG HAUL ( lasting, may be, several years of every new mutation, bringing a NEW WAVE )

I urge our Startup Geeks to consider coming out with a version of Set-Top Box , which can deliver not only VAN but also suitable JOB-ALERTS , as described at :

General Specifications- Phase 4  (  22 March 2010 )  

DELIVERING JAM ON NET TV OF BSNL ( 11 June 2004 )

No comments:

Post a Comment