India's Covid Vaccinations Hit 200 Crore Mark in Big Milestone for 7-Phase Drive Under Modi's Leadership

India has crossed record 200 crore mark in Covid-19 vaccinations within 18 months of launching the inoculation exercise in January last year. The last 100 crore vaccinations were done in nine months, the same time period which took the first 100 crore vaccinations to be done, showing that the pace did not slacken.

Government officials said the proactive strategic and policy-level leadership by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which included the Make-in-India and Make-for-World mantra, has helped the country achieve this goal where nearly every adult has been fully vaccinated with Made-in-India vaccines.

A seven-phase vaccination drive was followed on the principle of Prioritization for Vaccine Administration based on scientific advice and global best practices, government officials told News18.

India has since long surpassed entire Europe where the vaccination numbers stand at about 130 crore. India has not only administered 200 crore doses to its citizens but also exported over 23 crore vaccine doses to over 50 countries and still has nearly 10 crore doses in stock – implying the country produced nearly 233 crore vaccine doses in last 18 months.

Nearly 160 crore doses of Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, 33.5 crore doses of Covaxin, manufactured by Bharat Biotech, and 6.5 crore doses of Corbevax, manufactured by Biological E, have been administered to adults and children, and as precaution doses.

Officials say that India’s accomplishment in developing not one but multiple vaccines for Covid-19 virus can be credited to several systemic interventions taken at the leadership level. In a recent Interview with News18, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that it was the vaccination drive that “saved India” and as a result the fatalities were low especially during the third wave of the pandemic this year.

India had crossed the 100 crore vaccination mark on October 21, 2021, nine months after the PM had kicked off the vaccination drive on January 16, 2021. While some experts had said that achieving the next 100 crore vaccine doses would take longer and was a major challenge, India has achieved the second 100 crore vaccinations within nine months as well. India had reached the 150 crore vaccination mark on January 7 this year and 175 crore mark on February 19 this year.

Nearly 71% of the 200 crore vaccine doses in India have been administered in rural areas and 48.9% vaccine doses have been given to females, ensuring parity on all levels.

Efficient Vaccine Utilisation the Key

The record of 200 crore, officials say, has been achieved through increased frequency of vaccine supplies with reduced quantity of vaccines in each tranche to minimize vaccine stock in pipeline and daily assessment of vaccination performance in each state and UT and its comparison with the available stocks to identify the next delivery timeline for that state and UT.

India has also managed to minimize wastage through regular reviews and has followed the mantra of “efficient utilization of each dose of vaccine”, officials said. Around 213.5 crore vaccine syringes were mobilised for the vaccination programme and amidst a global scarcity of syringes, existing 1ml and 2ml syringes were marked with 0.5ml to be utilized for Covid-19 vaccination.

Special training of vaccinators was conducted for efficient utilization of 1ml, 2ml and 3ml syringes. India tailored its vaccine distribution based on real-time monitoring of demand and supply, regular review of production capacity of vaccine manufacturers and its status and release of regulatory approvals for release of manufactured batches.

Over 2.6 lakh vaccinators and over 4.7 lakh vaccination team members carried out the exercise at more than 4.7 lakh government facilities and 22,000 private facilities. A close collaboration was done between the ministries of Health and Civil Aviation, state governments and vaccine manufacturers for delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to 60 consignee points across the country within three three days of it leaving the factory.

A real-time temperature monitoring and stock visibility across all the stores through Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) was done to leverage the existing robust immunization supply chain. More than 29,000 last mile cold chain points were used in addition to 26,000 Ice Lined refrigerators and Deep Freezers made available in 2020-21.

Officials said the point should not be lost sight of that India accounts for nearly 17.5% of the world population, including 949 million adults and hence vaccinating all of them in a voluntary drive was a humungous task.

Officials say India acted early in its response mechanism to the pandemic in forming a high-level task force for Covid-19 vaccine as early as April 19, 2020 and approving Covishield and Covaxin for restricted emergency use on January 1 and 2, respectively, in 2021. The production capacity was ramped up through facility augmentation, technology transfer, financial assistance and advance payments to vaccine manufacturers.

7-Phase Vaccine Drive and CoWIN Portal

Officials also say that India adopted the mantra of a seven-phase vaccination drive following “prioritization of vaccine administration” based on scientific evidence and global best practices. In Phase 1, between January and February 2021, the vaccination drive was first opened up for healthcare workers and front line workers.

In Phase 2, between March and April 2021, vaccination was opened for those aged above 60 and between 45-59 age group. In Phase 3 in May last year, persons above 18 years of age were offered vaccination in private sector and in Phase 4 in June last year, the vaccination was opened for free for all above 18 years of age.

In Phase 5, from January this year, India opened vaccination for adolescents aged 15-18 and then precaution doses were offered for healthcare workers, front line workers and 60+ year population with co-morbidities. In Phase 6, from this March, vaccination was opened for children between 12 and 14 years of age and precaution doses were opened for all adults above 60 years of age.

In the ongoing Phase 7 from April, precaution doses have been offered for 18-59 years age group as a paid facility in private hospitals while on July 15 precaution doses were opened for free for all persons above 18 years of age in all government facilities.

The latest move is expected to increase the uptake of precaution doses, as it has been seen in the last few days. India, in fact, expects to hit the 250 crore vaccination mark in the next 5-6 months on the back of the precaution dose drive.

Another hero of the vaccination drive has been the CoWin portal that has provided a reference point post the first dose for citizens to follow the vaccination schedule and get the same second dose as the first. The CoWin portal has also enabled multiple modes of registration in offline walk-ins, online and assisted through help centres and call centres ensuring access for all.

The portal has also helped the government to evaluate the geographical coverage of the vaccination drive and get a view of each district at the state level.

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