One could recall the reporting of numerous cases of black marketing and hoarding of life-saving emergency drugs from the last year. The situation today, rather than improving, has further deteriorated with new items adding up to the list — from emergency drugs to oxygen cylinders and now the vaccines. Either the lobby is too strong to be abated or our efforts too feeble and superficial. The Kerala government has submitted a document of criticism against the policies of the Central government which it alleges could encourage black marketing and dominance of private players in the vaccination process. The concerns of the state government may not be fully misplaced. The reports of black marketing in vaccines are particularly concerning. There have been reports from Andhra Pradesh last week of a small amount of illegal vaccines being caught. The situation, if not controlled timely, could take monstrous forms. Certain conditions offer mushrooming ground profiteers — high consumer demand, conducive market conditions and loopholes in regulatory mechanisms. The consumer demand for emergency Covid products and amenities is incredibly high as the driving force behind consumer's rush is a necessity deciding life and death. Further, black marketeers are apparently taking undue advantage of differential pricing and open market for vaccines. They have in fact found a bounty in the huge gap that exists in the vaccine distribution systems. Given the Centre's shift away from the responsibility of the Universal Immunization Programme, the onus now greatly lies on the state governments. Of the estimated cost of somewhere between 50,000-70,000 crores, the states are collectively required to bear the burden of a major part of it. Oxfam has reported the cost of vaccination may alone account for 27 per cent of the states' health budget. While most of the states are struggling to take up the task in full measure, the profiteers are busy making the most out of the situation. It is in such times that one could miss the welfarist nature of the economy that has been sidelined gradually over the past decades; and strong command of the Centre over the scheme of things. It is once again the weaker section (also the major section) that disproportionately bears the brunt. Reports suggest that rural agricultural households may have to part with half of their average monthly income; it could mean a lot or even impossible in a dire state of the economy. The opportunistic actions of black marketeers is a blot on the face of humanity but, they are profiteers after all! As the governments decided to vaccinate a broader section of the Indian population by incorporating the age group 18-45 into the vaccination drive, things didn't go as intended. The black marketeers found a new freedom as the vaccines for this age group were not to be sponsored by the Central government. This opened up a huge market constituting more than one-fourth of the Indian population. There is already an unholy nexus in existence that has been dealing in hospital beds, oxygen, drugs and equipment. All that the profiteers had to do was a slight restructuring of the system. To sum up, there are glaring loopholes that need to be identified on an urgent basis. Every bit of delay will add up to the problem making it bigger. The black marketing in vaccines needs to be checked at the very initial stage. To mitigate those loopholes communication is a must — communication with the people to keep their trust intact and, hence, preventing them from falling into the traps of profiteers; and also, vertical and horizontal communication among various levels and wings of government. The public relations machinery of ministries and departments must spring into action to set examples in these challenging times. The focus has to be on two fronts — putting a check on the actions of black marketeers and mitigating and preventing the damage inflicted to the vulnerable sections of the society. We certainly can't afford the escalation of other problems to be added to the heaps of problems.