India’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign: A marathon, not a sprint
Hindustan TimesThe year 2021 began with hope that the development, manufacture, and deployment of vaccines will soon bring the Covid-19 pandemic to an end. At last count, the reported cumulative case count stands at 28.3 million.2 Globally, India stands second only to the United States in absolute numbers of cases. India officially launched its Covid-19 vaccination drive on 16 January 2021, with two approved vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin. As of June 3, 2021, as per reports from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,5 India has administered just over 221 million vaccine doses. On May 30, the government informed the public that while a little more than 79 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine were available with the states in May, nearly 120 million doses will be made available in June.8 Other than the question of supply, however, there are issues that are critical to whether or not India will succeed in its vaccination campaign.