A Booster Shot For India’s Vaccination Plan

Context: An overview of the steps needed to shape the success of India’s vaccination drive.

Status of India’s vaccination drive:

• Success: More than a third of all vaccinations done in the world each day are in India, reaching upto 2.6 million doses per day on March 15.
• Challenge to scale up: So far, India has vaccinated only 3.2% of the adult population, with a 7 day rolling average around 0.11 per 100 people

Steps needed

• Bring in clarity on strategy: Identified target of vaccinating 300 million vulnerable population shall be supplemented with definitive time frame and specifics on processes.
  • Scale-up: With a threat of another wave, India shall look to vaccinate 10 million people per day so that the vulnerable can be protected over the next two to three months.
  • Capacity utilisation: Given that India has 300,000 trained vaccinators, nearly three million people can be covered each day by the public health workforce.
  • Expand participation by private health facilities: Possible to cover more than seven to 10 million doses per day.
• Widen vaccine basket: by expanding India-Russia template - for local production of Sputnik.
• Balanced compassion: Between the supply of vaccines to other countries and compulsion to save the lives of millions of Indians at risk.
• Regulated sales in the private market: Government should act as an assurer of quality and regulate prices of all vaccines.
  • Addressing inequalities in the health system: Government as the sole provider of free vaccines and care for all Indians below the poverty line or who cannot afford to buy vaccines.
• Simplification of processes: Simple age-­based criteria, offline walk-­in vaccination with paper-­based collection of details etc.
  • Use Opportunistic Screening using simple digital measuring devices for blood pressure and blood glucose to pro-actively identify co-morbidities.
• A ‘3M’ road map:
  • Microplanning: Connect houses, migrant population and institutions such as old age homes and dementia care centres with vaccination teams.
  • Mobilising: Can be done by accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in rural areas and other volunteers in urban areas.
  • Monitoring and mentoring: Ensure inter­sectoral coordination and necessary logistical and transport supplies.
• Coordinate with the World: Re-looking WHO templates in the global polio eradication programme.