NEW DELHI – India has launched a massive vaccination campaign this weekend, hoping to use its unique skills to mobilize millions to make rapid progress in its efforts to protect its population from Covid-19.
Hundreds of thousands of health workers – the first people to receive the vaccines – lined up across the country to get their shots fired, in a nationwide effort that used the talents of millions of people to make, deliver, register, administer, monitor and protect the shots, India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said.
India is setting up about 300,000 doses per day and will increase the vaccinations, depending on how much vaccine is available, said Mr. Vardhan said. The country aims to vaccinate 300 million of its 1.3 billion people by August. Over the weekend, it was still not the pace needed to reach the target, with about 191,000 people getting shots on Saturday and 17,000 getting it on Sunday when the campaign closed in most states.
“This is a big exercise,” he said. Vardhan said, who has written a book about India’s efforts to eradicate polio. “India has a tremendous amount of experience in dealing with these issues.”
While some countries have struggled with the scale and complexity of a nationwide vaccination system, India is confident that it can do better due to its experience in vaccinating its poor population and maintaining the electoral infrastructure for nearly one billion voters.