A first-person, behind-the-scenes account straight from the trenches
Score: 156 crore vaccines., Pitch: Pandemic.,War: Team Health India vs Covid-19.
One year, 156 crore vaccinations. Roughly 42 lakh vaccinations plus daily. The story of the unparalleled journey of an extraordinary achievement of “Team Health India”.
Before the world’s largest vaccination drive was launched, several experts expressed doubts based of course on their experiences, facts, and hypotheses. Will we be able to make vaccines available as per the nation’s needs? Do we possess storage capacities for such huge numbers? Do we have the necessary transport arrangements and trained manpower?
It will take too long to ready the manpower to vaccinate such a large population.
Until now, the country has never vaccinated the adult population. We have not even digitized information on children’s vaccination. How will we address vaccine hesitancy among people? How will vaccine reach timely and safely to far flung regions? Who will vaccinate them?
Amid this environment of criticism, “Team Health India” counted on known strengths:
The most important reason behind this self-confidence was the unshakable conviction of the Prime Minister in the hidden potential of the citizens of our country, which became the greatest strength of “Team Health India”.
The team first focused on resolving the doubts raised by the experts. So began an endless marathon of meetings on the vaccination drive. It was exactly a year ago from today, before the launch of the world’s largest vaccination drive by the Prime Minister, that we finalized the basic guidelines and completed necessary trainings.
“Team Health India’ had the following ready much before January 16, 2021:
A dry run was carried out in all States and UTs. The night of January 15 was a night to remember, with chilling cold and nail-biting suspense to resolve a technical glitch CoWIN faced. Thousands were awake fixing the snag. Being the nodal officer for the National Covid Vaccination Programme, I too was present in the headquarters. I remember feeling like scientists sitting in a command centre about to experience the launch of a space shuttle. Words fail me in describing those moments of anxious anticipation or the deep sense of satisfaction on resolving the glitch. CoWIN was successfully kickstarted on time and we are all witness to the many benefits of the extraordinary Indian digital platform, which has continuously adapted to the evolving requirements of the programme.
This was just the beginning. In the first phase, vaccine availability waslimited, and expectations were many. Rationalized distribution of the limited number of vaccines was a big challenge and criticism was inevitable. “Team Health India” worked on with virtual meetings for hours on end every day with vaccine manufacturers, vaccine transport agencies, storage centres, cold chain points and Covid Vaccination Centres with the singular aim-optimal use of every drop of the vaccine.
Next, imagine how the vaccines reached our remotest corners. Where there were no roads, cycles were used; in the deserts, camels helped; boats carried them across rivers; in the hills, vaccines were carried on backs. People were invited for vaccination with offerings of turmeric rice. For the vaccine hesitant, doors were knocked under ‘Har Ghar Dastak’. All this while, we didn’t follow any western model; it bore the unique stamp of India’s ingenuity.
The preparations required were enormous and time too little. We kept learning from experiences gathered from the field. In this pursuit, “Team Health India” neglected their personal needs, families, dreams; many even lost their loved ones to Covid. Despite that, there was an indescribable pride “Team Health India” felt in serving the nation in this once-in-a-century crisis. What I saw or write, is just the tip of the iceberg. For “Team Health India”, there would be countless such moments of struggle and satisfaction, examples that are symbols of humanitarianism, examples that impart a sense of deep gratitude and hope.
(The writer is Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI and Nodal Officer for the Covid-19 vaccination drive. The views expressed are personal.)