The number of Covid-19 deaths is surging in Iran and families are worried sick about catching the virus. High-ranking political officials are now more vocal about the importance of vaccine imports than achieving self-sufficiency in producing it.
Ali Sarzaeem, an economic expert, writes in the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad about economic lessons the country should learn from the state of the vaccine rollout. Below is a translation of the full text.
It is patently obvious that Iran has missed out the golden opportunity for the import and inoculation of Covid-19 vaccine; the country is now most vulnerable to the delta variant.
Executive agencies are engaged in the blame game while daily Covid-19 deaths are hitting record highs. Two misguided economic thinking once again reigned over the country but this time thousands of people lost their lives as a consequence of these erroneous policies.
In the past, the negative outcomes of such economic policies used to manifest themselves in the shape of unnecessary expenses and the squandering of resources and therefore were less tangible, but this time the ramifications of choosing the wrong policy were deaths of helpless people.
Hopefully, understanding the unequivocal consequences of these decisions will pave the way for their eventual rejection in the future.
Emphasizing on the governmentalization of daily affairs of the state on the pretext of improving justice is the first misleading policy. From day one, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education opposed the import of vaccine by the private sector as it believed the country should not move in a direction that allows the rich to be vaccinated and not the poor.
This superficial understanding of justice led to the prohibition of vaccine import by the private sector. A number of major companies urged the government to permit them to import vaccine for their workers and their families from their own resources but they were rejected. The government and Health Ministry had this grandiose delusion that they themselves are capable of importing enough vaccines.
Such a delusion under sanctions regime and financial constraints turned out to be a complete fiasco. The country blew the opportunity to vaccinate all people in time. The private sector could search all the nooks and crannies to transfer foreign currency and import vaccine. Bearing the costs of their own vaccination, a significant part of the society could become immune to coronavirus; the government could vaccinate those who were incapable of covering these costs. In actuality, the government committed two mistakes simultaneously: first, it assumed the responsibility of procuring vaccines while the private sector could carry out this duty more effortlessly, quickly and efficiently; second, it took charge of vaccine distribution while again the private sector was more competent in doing so.
Motivating factors, including obtaining the highest profit possible, could lead to the inflow of vaccines and then to a price equilibrium. The government could save its limited resources for supporting the poor. It was looking to see Covid-19 deaths affect both the rich and the poor by employing a misguided policy, ignoring the fact that those who are financially capable travel to foreign countries to get vaccinated.
Achieving self-sufficiency in everything or almost everything is the second misguided approach. I personally believe in the competence of the country’s medical system regarding vaccine research. Iranian experts are no less qualified than their foreign counterparts. However, this does not mean that we should indigenize all important affairs.
The line of thinking that stresses the importance of indigenization of most products is in fact depriving itself of creativities, innovations and new technologies of other people around the globe.
We sure need the expertise of our own specialists but we shouldn’t miss out on the chances of competition among domestic and foreign experts with prejudice about our domestic specialists. In doing so, we are practically depriving ourselves of the fruits of quality products and quick solutions.
The lesson we can take from the high number of covid-19 fatalities in recent days is that the government is not a good player; economic motivations act more efficiently when it comes to meeting the needs of the people.
It is sufficient, even more than sufficient, for the government to stick to correct policymaking and support the underprivileged.
