TODAY, India celebrates an unprecedented milestone in the country’s Covid-19 immunization drive. India has demonstrated its capabilities in successfully undertaking the world’s largest vaccination drive. Within the short span of eight months, the country has been able to overcome numerous challenges through resolve, innovation, and collaboration to vaccinate close to 70% of eligible population with first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Given the scale, complexity and diversity of our nation, this by no means is a small feat. The milestone marks a golden chapter in showcasing New India’s resolution and resilience against what many perceived to be insurmountable odds.
ऐसे होगा अल्सर जल्द ठीक, सुने मरीज़ की जुबानी || Dr. Vijata Arya ||
TODAY is also a day to appreciate and celebrate once again the hundreds of thousands of health care professionals, frontline warriors and other unsung heroes in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. Without their relentless hard work, this journey would not have been imaginable.
How to detox your body naturally || अब अंदरूनी शरीर इस तरह जल्द होगा साफ || Dr. Shikha Gupta ||
AS we celebrate India’s success, it is imperative to recognize that behind this milestone lie exceptional planning, management and collaboration of a diverse set of stakeholders from central government institutions, state governments, local government bodies and private sector development partners.
Salasar Balaji Temple || Salasar Dham || सालासर बाला जी ||
IN 2020, as it became clear that the only viable weapon in our arsenal in the fight against the pandemic were safe and effective vaccines, Government of India, under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, started laying the ground work for the immunization drive. India’s historically robust vaccine manufacturing capabilities ensured that the country will be able to mass produce Covid-19 vaccine doses. As our scientists worked towards developing safe and effective vaccines, the government focused on laying out an operational framework through which over ONE BILLION people could be quickly and effectively immunized. The logistical challenges in immunizing the entire adult population were unparalleled in scope and scale which demanded out-of-the box thinking.
भगवान कृष्ण जी का निवास स्थान बेट द्वारका || Byet Dwarka || Ep – 1 ||
IN December 2020, in order to streamline the logistics, distribution and delivery of the vaccines, Union Ministry of Health laid out the comprehensive operational guidelines in the following manner:
- Established a multi governance mechanism involving national, state, district and sub-district/block levels clearly delineating roles and responsibilities.
- Laid out a framework for intersectoral convergence in order to ensure efficient utilization of capacities and capabilities of different government departments as well as private development partners.
- Approximately 1,14,100 vaccinators were trained,prior to the start of the vaccination drive, on the process to be followed at the vaccination sites which includes beneficiary verification, vaccination, cold chain & logistics management, Bio-Medical Waste management and Adverse event following immunization (AEFI) management, as per the guidelines.
- ड्राई फ्रूट या सब्जी की शक्ल जिस अंग जैसी होती है उसी पर करती है दवा का काम || Dr.Om Prakesh Anand
THE Co-WIN platform, now lauded globally, not only has been instrumental in streamlining vaccine storage and distribution logistics but also ensured speed and efficiency in vaccine delivery management and surveillance and management of AEFI. Subsequently, Co-WIN has played a major role in the rapid scale up of India’s vaccination capabilities.
आज (25th october 2021 ) का इतिहास || Aaj ka itihas || HISTORY||
WHILEinnovations in vaccine development and delivery systems led by the central government institutions, the state and district level governance institutions ensured seamless and efficient implementation. At state level, a steering committee, a task force and control room were established to manage the massive drive consisting of experts from various government departments. Similarly, at district level, district taskforce, urban taskforce and district control rooms were constituted to oversee the vaccine drive.
IN order to ensure efficiency, test the vaccine delivery and distribution systems and identify and address the gaps, multiple dry runs were conducted by the states in January 2021 prior to the start of the vaccination drive. The feedback mechanism established from block level to central level has been crucial in quickly assessing and addressing any shortcomings in the process. The central government has worked closely with state governments and course-corrected as per their feedback enabling the country to scale up the immunization drive efficiently.
SINCE the beginning of the nationwide immunization drive, our focus has been to ensure that demographic and geographic diversities are accounted for in our vaccine delivery mechanism in order to get the vaccine shot in the arms of every citizen. We have relentlessly worked towards overcoming hindrances through innovations in order to ensure vaccine delivery to hard to reach communities.
WE have also worked towards ensuring easy access of vaccines to marginalized groups and communities in the following ways:
- Door-to-door vaccine delivery has been implemented to provide coverage to the divyang population of the country.
- Assam, Delhi and Goa, among other states, have worked towards ensuring Covid-19 immunization coverage among transgender population.
- Indian Council of Medical Research’s pilot project, i-Drone initiative, launched recently from Manipur, is delivering vaccine doses to inaccessible communities via drones.
Apart, numerous other novel approaches have been adopted all over the country to deliver vaccines.
THE 100 crore milestone is not only a testimony to India’s capacity and capabilities but also a stellar illustration of cooperation and collaboration among institutions, communities and people. It is a NEW TESTAMENT to our unity and our collective resolve to overcome challenges. With this milestone, we are a step closer to fully immunize the adult population of the country and defeating the pandemic.
- Bharati Pravin Pawar
- Union Minister of State, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
-N.G.
