2020 was the year of discovery for COVID vaccines, 2021 will be the year of getting it across to the people

India has completed a year of successfully battling the pandemic. I would like to express deep appreciation and unwavering support to the tire­less work of the frontline workers who are working on the ground. Under our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s dynamic, and unwavering leadership, we have ensured that India not only has the highest recovery rate in the world but is also a beacon of hope for other countries who are dependent on India’s export of N95 masks and PPE kits for their own containment efforts. This shift in India’s trajectory may be credited to the Atmanirbhar Yojana led by the Hon. Prime Minister.

The tireless efforts being made by the multiple stakeholders, including the central and state govern­ment officials and the medical community, who have worked proactively in the last few months to compose and disseminate detailed guidelines on the upcoming vaccination drive, train the vaccine administrators must be lauded. We are grateful to the scientific community who have worked tirelessly to bring the country two vaccines which have received the Emergency Use Authorization, a few days back.

The unique digital platform, Co-WIN, repurposed from the e-VIN platform will provide real time information of vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccine. This platform will assist the program managers across all levels through automated session allocation for pre-registered beneficiaries, their verification and for generating a digital certificate upon successful completion of the vaccine schedule. More than 78 lakh beneficiaries have been already registered on the platform.

The country’s cold chain infrastructure has been sufficiently upgraded to ensure last mile delivery and that adequate supplies of syringes and other logistics have also been provided for. India has unparalleled experience in dealing with immunization and runs one of the largest universal immunization programs in the world which has been applauded by the world for its robustness. The rich experience of the country from the UIP and the anti-polio campaign are being used to strengthen the processes of COVID-19 vaccination.

To strengthen the capacity of our human resource for COVID-19 vaccine introduction and roll-out, detailed training modules have been developed for different categories of vaccine handlers and administrators including medical officers, vaccinators, alternate vaccinators, cold chain handlers, supervisors, data managers, ASHA coordinators and all others involved in the implementation process at different levels. The entire operational planning and IT platform has been field tested on several occasions before the second national dry run of tomorrow.

At the time of COVID emergency, Prime Minister had said that, “India MUST see the COVID-19 pandemic crisis as an opportunity” and focused on 5 fundamental pillars: The Economy, Technology, Infrastructure, Vibrant Demography, and Demand to create a Self-Reliant India. The high density of population coupled with poor infrastructure posed a big challenge. Understanding the highly infectious nature of the disease and the need to ensure overall healthcare availability across the country, India did a strategic re-purposing of existing health infrastructure to ensure that the health systems providing primary healthcare at grassroots levels were left untouched. With the proactive, pre-emptive, and graded whole of government, whole of society approach that India followed in managing COVID-19 has been one of the hallmarks of its response.