Covid Vaccine - A Shot Of Hope

Officials exude confidence ahead of India’s mammoth Covid vaccination programme, but challenges remain on the ground

- Sonali Acharjee

At 5 am on January 12, three temperature-controlled trucks arrived at the Pune airport. Police and airport security in tow, they took a special route on the runway for their consignments to be loaded onto nine flights. Heading to 13 cities across India, these flights carried 5.6 million doses of the Covishield vaccine between them. It was the first batch of the much-awaited protection against the Covid virus, the first shots of which will be administered to some 30 million Indians for free, beginning January 16.

“Covid cases in India are declining, which is a good sign. Our vaccination drive will further help reduce transmission of the virus. Both Covishield and Covaxin, the vaccines approved for emergency use in India, have met all safety criteria,” says Dr V.K. Paul, NITI Aayog member and chairman of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19. “In fact, 12 countries have approached us for Covid vaccines.” Dr Paul adds that after nearly 10 days of dry runs across 33 states and Union territories, the country is fully geared up to vaccinate its entire 1.3 billion population against Covid-19, in what will arguably be the largest immunisation programme in the world.