Engage military to expedite vaccination drive

Lt Gen Philip Campose (Retd)

Former Vice-Chief Of Army Staff

The Indian military has played a significant role in mitigating the effects of Covid’s second wave among the civilian population in cities like Delhi, Lucknow, Pune, Patiala and Jaisalmer and far-flung areas such as Ranikhet and Pithoragarh, where military-run Covid care centres for the general public have been set up or expanded during the past month. This was done to supplement the earlier decision of providing beds for Covid-affected civilians in military hospitals, in case these were available.

The question that now arises is whether the military-civilian cooperative model of Covid care centres should be extended to the next logical step. This step includes the setting up of mobile vaccination centres and the conduct of vaccination camps, especially in small towns and rural areas, thus filling the gaps in our vaccination plan and bolstering the country’s capacity for achieving ‘herd immunity through vaccination’ by the end of the year.

It is a fact that whenever there is a disaster in the country, the government and the people look to its military, the ‘last bastion’ as it is called, to step in and provide assistance to deal with the situation expeditiously. The fact that the military is mandated, as its ‘secondary role’, to assist Central and state agencies to deal with national emergencies like the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, facilitates an early and effective response.

During the first wave last year, such assistance for civilians was limited to setting up quarantine centres for people being repatriated from abroad as also a Covid care centre in Delhi, in concert with other agencies, for those who tested positive with the disease.

However, considering the large number of people who were infected in the second wave this year, especially those in the severe category — requiring hospitalisation, oxygen and ventilators — the massive scale of the problem has dictated a wide range of additional roles for the military. They include transportation of oxygen plants and other emergency resources by Air Force aircraft and Naval ships as also assistance for setting up additional Covid care centres for civilians in many parts of the country.

Nonetheless, there is a contrarian view among some people, including military veterans, that the involvement of the military in such a role would have adverse effects on the quality of medical care available to serving personnel and their families, who are equally affected by the ravages of the pandemic. Further, they fear, it would divert attention from the military’s primary role of war-fighting at a time when tension over PLA intrusions still remains in eastern Ladakh.

These arguments are countered by those who support military assistance. They say that the unprecedented scale of the health emergency dictates a more substantive role for the military, which is capable of making a real difference, especially since it would not have any adverse effect on our operational capabilities.

In this backdrop, the question that arises in the context of the nation’s quest for defeating the virus, by achieving ‘herd immunity’ through an accelerated vaccination programme, is whether the military can contribute towards this end, keeping its organisational strengths and vast outreach in view. The military also has extensive medical human resources at its command, especially medical staff, including nurses, nursing assistants and technical personnel, who can carry out this task efficiently. Also, more importantly, the military has an enviable ethos and record of ‘getting the job done’ even in the most complicated of circumstances.

Undoubtedly, if so tasked — and the vaccines provided — the military is capable of speedily and efficiently vaccinating people in the remotest of geographical areas. It can also take on the challenge of vaccinating specified categories of people in towns and cities, e.g. teachers and students, in a speedy and efficient manner.

The only pre-requisites for such a venture are the assured availability of vaccines from Central or state resources and the assistance of the state governments concerned, which should cooperate and coordinate with the military by providing appropriate venues and local health staff for the vaccination centres. Local administrative authorities must also take care of publicity for the campaign, more so to counter vaccine hesitancy.

Needless to emphasise, the military cannot be seen to be serving any political agenda and, thus, if a decision is taken to seek the assistance of the military in implementing the vaccination programme, it becomes incumbent on the government of the day to ensure that the tasking and distribution of resources is done impartially, without controversy. Further, once so tasked, the military must be provided the resources, especially the vaccines, to ensure that the programme is implemented speedily with military efficiency and vigour.

To that extent, the military should be given this role only if the vaccines are available in the required numbers. Rest assured, once given a clear task and resources, the military will never let the people down.

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