India's nationwide COVID-19 vaccination programme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16, 2021.
Under his proactive and visionary leadership, India supported the research, development and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines under the "Make-in-India" and "Make-for-World" strategy, embarked on the use of cutting-edge technologies like CoWIN for evaluating geographical coverage, tracking AEFI for vaccines, promoting inclusivity and for providing a single reference point for citizens to follow their vaccination schedule, and prioritized vaccine administration based on scientific evidence and global best practices.
Several systematic interventions were also carried out in ensuring capacity building for carrying out this nationwide exercise. The existing supply chain for storage and transport of COVID19 vaccines was leveraged and strengthened and effective monitoring of vaccine distribution and assured availability and efficient utilization of vaccines and syringes were ensured at all times.
India's free and voluntary nationwide COVID-19 vaccination exercise is also being carried out in a citizen-friendly approach through initiatives like Har Ghar Dastak, Workplace CVC, School-based vaccination, vaccination of persons with no identity documents, Near-to-Home CVC and Mobile Vaccination Teams.
With 71 per cent of CVCs located in rural areas and over 51 per cent of vaccine doses administered to women, India's national COVID-19 vaccination programme also ensured geographical and gender equity.
Despite the decline in COVID cases across the country, consistent efforts were ongoing to vaccinate all eligible citizens. This is exemplified by the fact that it took almost 9 months to reach the 100-crore mark and another 9 months to reach the 200 crore vaccination mark since the start of the vaccination drive on January 16, 2021, with the highest single-day vaccination record of 2.5 crore doses achieved on September 17, 2021.
On July 15, 2022, the Union government launched a 75-day-long 'COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsav' to provide free precaution doses to eligible adult population at Government COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs).
This special drive, part of the celebration for Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, is being implemented in a 'mission mode' to increase uptake of precaution dose of COVID vaccine.
India also laid out a well-organised communication strategy for providing correct information and customised guidelines on COVID vaccination. It helped address vaccine hesitancy and promoted vaccine eagerness and COVID-19 appropriate behaviour among the masses.
The Union government is committed to further accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country.
( With inputs from ANI )
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