It is no secret that India's vaccination campaign has had its fair share of troubles. After a slow start in vaccination, India opened up its vaccination process to everyone above the age of 18. Many, vaccine makers included, considered this to be an ill-timed move that was made without taking into account the available stock of vaccines in the country. Then, there was the 'liberalisation' of the vaccination drive. Under these guidelines, the states would have to directly negotiate with vaccine makers to get the required vaccines to innoculate people aged from 18 to 44. It was revealed that the states would not only be competing for these vaccines with each other but also the private sector which would also procure vaccines from the set state quota. It was also later revealed that a state's ability for direct procurement would also be decided by its population. The Supreme Court would go to criticise the Centre's vaccine policy, observing, that among other things, 'leaving state governments to negotiate directly with manufacturers will produce chaos and uncertainty.' Serious concern was expressed over whether leaving such a 'valuable public good' to the forces of the free market was a good idea as it could adversely affect the vaccine rollout for those aged 18-44 and relying on state health services. Regardless, several states did end up floating global tenders for vaccines. This, as per a State Bank of India research paper, is a bad idea. The paper warned that such tenders would only serve to accelerate competition between states to procure vaccines. This would adversely impact states that have large populations but don't the budget to compete with richer states. Conversely, these rich states would then be paying more for their vaccines as they engage in competitive bids. But the paper did not support a fully centralised system of vaccination either where the Centre would be solely responsible. Rather, an EU like system was suggested where the Centre and states would jointly negotiate their vaccine contracts. The EU system has a dedicated committee for the procurement of vaccines with members representing each EU state and its concerns. This committee then negotiates with global vaccine makers. While the EU model was initially disparaged for how slow the process of negotiation and procurement was, it is now showing effect as the EU nations steadily vaccinate their respective populations. The paper ultimately contends that though taking an active role in setting up a robust vaccination campaign in India will cost a pretty penny, not doing it and relying on lockdowns instead will be considerably more expensive. The use of vaccines, after all, is the only reliable method for breaking the cycle of lockdowns to control the spread of the infection. There have been other signs as well that this liberalisation policy of the Centre would not be easy to implement. Global vaccine maker Pfizer and Moderna have declined requests for vaccines from states like Punjab in recent days. Both vaccine makers stated that they had a policy in place to only deal with central governments in the countries they sell to. Moderna also expressed that it would not have any extra vaccines to send either way before the end of this year. Pfizer, on the other hand, is negotiating liabilities and such with the Centre and has expressed interest in dealing with the Centre as opposed to the states. Now, several state ministers are once again turning to the Centre with their appeals to negotiate vaccine imports. Others like Bihar are flat out refusing to float tenders, pointing towards the many failed attempts by other states to do so. This is a clear call for the government to change track with its vaccination policy. A 'liberalised' system may not be the solution to a public health crisis that demands more government involvement. It would also be interesting to note what the Centre would do if a Chinese company was to offer its vaccines at competitive prices as a way of fulfilling specific state tenders. Would the Centre then intercede and stop the state from procuring the vaccines as stipulated by the Centre's vaccination plan?