Last week, India began its unprecedented COVID-19 vaccination operation, whereby they will be procedurally administering their nationally made vaccine voluntarily to the population.
The Indian vaccine was expedited through the mass testing part of its development, for which some medical experts and sociologists cite concerns of “vaccine hesitancy,” or the phenomenon where people are less likely to take the vaccine within a reasonable timeframe, prolonging the spread of the virus at hand. The vaccines used are two privately developed vaccines for India: AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech.
India recently announced they would be providing for the vaccination immediately of their surrounding neighbors as well as their own populace, enforcing a “neighborhood first” policy. They hope this will mitigate the negative effects of “vaccine nationalism” (when countries only provide for their own people’s vaccinations) while still concerning themselves with themselves, consistent with the Indian policy of populism. For instance, nearby developing countries won’t suffer on account of their neighbors’ comparative advantage–ergo Indians won’t be so exposed to the virus, nor will they have grounds for xenophobia.
Indian vaccine intentions crossing international borders has helped India build their network of allies via diplomacy; they lately have been strengthening ties with neighbors to prevent them from being too attached to Chinese investments, economically and now medically buffering their surrounding developing nations lacking the infrastructure to provide for themselves completely. This plan of India’s has the primary objective of ensuring they do not get swallowed up by Chinese influence, and remaining a geopolitical asset to all of their major diplomatic, strategic, and trading partners. Altogether, it’s arbitrary to claim whether the Indian national or international vaccine plans are pure or otherwise, as irregardless it serves both objectives for countries and populations mutually.