The authorities in New Delhi announced on Thursday (October 21) that India’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign has reached a historic milestone with 1 billion doses of vaccines, most of which are made in India. However, efforts continue, as only about 30% of adults receive both doses at the same time.
The government said that in this country of 1.3 billion people, three-quarters of adults have been vaccinated once, and about 30% of adults have been vaccinated.
India reached its goal of 1 billion doses of vaccine in less than 40 weeks. According to the authorities, this reflects the strength of India in all aspects of the vaccination process-the development of new vaccines, vaccine production, deployment and technology.
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in India was launched on January 16, 2021, about three weeks after the EU started vaccination on December 27, 2020.
Hard start
In the spring, the highly contagious variants of the Indian coronavirus surged. Hospitals ran out of beds and oxygen, and morgues and crematoriums were overcrowded.The Indian government is widely criticized be opposed to And the so-called mismanagement of the pandemic by the public.
They are accused of suppressing death rates, being responsible for “unnecessary deaths” and failing to protect the right to life.The International Commission of Jurists stated that the government failed to Several areas include Guaranteed access to priced oxygen, hospital beds, medicines, tests and vaccines.
“India’s federal and state governments failed to prepare for a predictable second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbating the terrible effects of the pandemic and the avoidable tragedy of 1,500 to 3,000 deaths per day,” the Secretary of the International Court of Justice Sa Mzarifi said. General.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the government should pay approximately 574 euros in compensation for each death caused by COVID-19. The order was issued after a petition led by a lawyer sought compensation under the country’s disaster management laws.
From the moment the family submits the application, the authorities have 30 days to make the payment.
Then on April 27, it reported 360,960 cases per day, the highest in the world.
So what has changed?
India prioritized vaccine development and launched the “Mission COVID Suraksha” to provide local vaccine manufacturers with financial and technical support. This mission is the power behind the world’s first DNA-based COVID vaccine Zycov-D, which was developed by Zydus Cadila to vaccinate children over 12 years of age.
According to reports, the delegation also supports the capacity development of Bharat Biotech, an Indian multinational biotechnology company, and provides support for infrastructure and technology development for other public sector manufacturers.
India is the only country that develops multiple vaccines across platforms (Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN uses an inactivated virus platform, Zycov-D is a DNA vaccine, Covishield is a viral vector vaccine, and Gennova is campaigning to become India’s first mRNA vaccine), according to its government .
In terms of vaccine deployment and delivery, a comprehensive planning and implementation system has been established. Due to high risk awareness, the national COVID vaccination plan initially targeted healthcare and frontline workers as well as the elderly.
Subsequently, the program was extended to include people over 45 years of age and those with comorbidities, and later extended to all citizens over 45 years of age.
All adults over the age of 18 are included in the ongoing phase and vaccinations are provided free of charge at public vaccination agencies.
Prosperous local production
Following the approval of the Drug Control Agency of India (DCGI), the program has used three vaccines (COVISHIELD developed by the Serum Institute of India in cooperation with AstraZeneca’s Bharat Biotech International Limited’s COVAXIN and Russia’s SPUTNIK V).
Except for a small portion of Sputnik 5 (approximately 400,000 doses), almost all of the 1 billion doses were manufactured in India. In addition, more than 95% of vaccine doses are provided by India’s public health system, which the authorities say proves its coverage and robustness.
Private medical institutions have also been included in the implementation of vaccination activities.
By the end of 2021, India is considering increasing the monthly production of COVID-19 vaccines, providing more vaccine options, and a larger proportion of the fully vaccinated population. According to the authorities, this will translate into greater potential for sharing vaccines with the world and help realize the Prime Minister’s vision of “one planet, one health”.
In June last year, at the G7 meeting hosted by the United Kingdom, the leaders of India, Australia, South Korea and South Africa were invited as guests. Modi called for a “one planet, one healthy” approach, which aims to unite and unite the nations of the world to deal with COVID-19 Pandemic.
He also emphasized the need to ensure that the raw materials for the vaccine are easily available.
According to experts, given its existing extensive and well-developed infrastructure and supply chain, India can play a key role in providing much-needed vaccines globally. Because of its huge generic drug industry, India is known as the pharmacy of developing countries.
[Edited by Alice Taylor]
