The pandemic has taught us a great deal. We have all become familiar with terms such as variants, waves, vaccine supply chains and quarantine. It has also encouraged an interest in preventive health technology, especially in vaccines. This interest is understandable, given that India accounts for the second highest caseload of COVID-19 globally. Once the vaccines were available, the nation had to take on the task of rolling out one of the largest vaccination drives in the world; this of course, is not new to India.
India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), launched in 1985 to deliver routine immunisation, showcased its strengths in managing large-scale vaccine delivery. This programme targets close to 2.67 crore newborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women annually. To strengthen the programme’s outcomes, in 2014, Mission Indradhanush was introduced to achieve full immunisation coverage of all children and pregnant women at a rapid pace — a commendable initiative.
But the pandemic reminded us that vaccines alone do not save lives, vaccination does. While we have, over the years, set up a strong service delivery network, the pandemic showed us that there were weak links in the chain, especially in the cold chain, which needs to be robust and seamless.
