Mumbai, May 21 (IANS): As the country battles with the second wave of Covid-19 and lack of vaccines at its disposal, an SBI report has recommended that the Centre in coordination with states, should enter into deals with these companies so that we vaccinate a sizeable population.

India should follow the European Union's model of vaccine procurement, said the SBI Ecowrap.

"India should ideally follow the EU template in global vaccine procurement. Globally, the EU Commission jointly with a Joint Negotiation Team carries out the negotiations with vaccine suppliers," it said.

The members of the Joint Negotiation Team - representing seven member states - are appointed by a Steering Committee. The Steering Committee discusses and reviews all aspects of the Advanced Purchase Agreement (APA) contracts before signature. All EU Member States are represented in this Committee.

All member states have endorsed this approach, which is at the heart of the EU vaccines strategy, it said.

It further suggested that government should focus on vaccinating people of the worst affected districts first so that the spread can be controlled.

As per UNICEF data, globally, the reported production capacity (per dose) stands at 22.2 billion in 2021. Out of the reported production capacity of 22.2 billion, 13.74 billion doses' agreements is already formalized and out of this, 9.34 billion doses are secured and India has secured 0.28 billion as per the dashboard data in UNICEF.

India is also exploring other options and the Government has committed at a 2.14 billion pipeline between August and December, it added.