NEW DELHI – India launched a large-scale 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 shot, in a nationwide effort that tapped into the talents of millions of people to create, deliver, record, administer, monitor and protect the shots Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said.
India is targeting about 300,000 doses per day and will increase vaccinations depending on how much vaccine is available, Mr Vardhan said. The country aims to vaccinate 300 million of its 1.3 billion people by August. Over the weekend, the pace was still slow to reach that goal, with about 191,000 people getting shots on Saturday and 17,000 getting them on Sunday when the campaign ended in most states.
“This is a tremendous exercise,” said Mr Vardhan, who wrote a book on India’s efforts to eradicate polio. “India has vast experience in addressing these issues.”
While some countries struggle with the scale and complexity of a nationwide vaccination drive, India is confident it can do better because of its experience in vaccinating its poor population and maintaining electoral infrastructure for nearly a billion voters.