Vaccine Delivery Systems in India –Contribution to public health.

Immunizations are the arrangements given to patients to boost biological reactions prompting the creation of antibodies (humoral) that will battle irresistible conditions like a coronavirus. As per the Government of India, Co-WIN has been made basically to help track the dissemination of COVID-19 antibodies, screen recipients and empower residents to enlist for the vaccination procedure. CO-WIN is the name of Vaccine Delivery Management System

On January 3 2021 the two kinds of vaccine got approval first one is AstraZeneca's Covishield, which is being created by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India and the second one is natively made Bharat Biotech-ICMR's Covaxin and even got approval by drug regulatory body(Meghna, 2021).

The vaccine transportation route is important to understand the shortcomings and limited capabilities faced by States in the vaccine process. The vaccine jabs are transported through the air route from the manufacturers to the four main governments storage facility (govt. Medical store depot). From there, the jabs are transported to 37 different state vaccines stores throughout the country and thereafter reached district vaccination stores and primary health centers and sub-centers (Kapur&kurian, 2021).

Further, the data provided by each state is uploaded on a digital platform (CO-WIN) and then all states need to run check at various levels with the end goal of confirmation. Then into the public domain, the registration for vaccine is done online. Each individualized session has been allocated digitally. As of now, the focus is on 27 crore elderly above the age of 50 years. However, the vaccine priority list includes 1 crore Healthcare workers of both governments as well as private along with 2 crore Frontline workers (personnel from state and the central police department, armed forces, home guards, civil defense organizations including disaster management volunteers and municipal workers)(VAISHNAVI, 2021).

Mass vaccination has already made a colossal contribution in public health area. Two significant diseases, smallpox and rinderpest, have been eradicated. Polio has nearly been eliminated. Notwithstanding these victories, around 6.6 million kids still died every year and large portion of them passed due to several contaminations, including pneumonia and diarrheia, which could be taken care through vaccinations. Primary information shows that the vaccination is 94% viable and appears to forestall extreme diseases. The vaccine is particularly effective at preventing COVID-19(Ewen, 2020). However uncertainties regarding vaccine’s effectiveness are still the topic of discussion, but there are examples that portray the vaccination as strategic tool to beat the coronavirus in long run. Furthermore the official report by ICMR shows very few COVID related infections cases post vaccination in India. Particularly -after the second dose of vaccine, a miniscule number of individuals contracted Covid-19 in India post-vaccination.

Since the vaccination is proving efficient in controlling the virus, the government authorities should focus on logistics and communication in its planning , so as to ensure that vaccine reaches a larger population at a faster rate. The flow-mechanism in the logistics could be shortened, if vaccine production is increased and decentralized units are themselves allowed to procure vaccines directly. This has started, in some manner, with the the third phase of vaccination drive, where the states are directly procuring from the manufacturer, albeit, it could be channelized more efficiently once production is increased.

REFERENCES

[1]Ewen, C. (2020, November 16). COVID vaccine excitement builds as Moderna reports third positive result. Retrieved May 18, 2021, from nature.com: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03248-7

[2]Kapur&kurian. (2021, January 08). India’s Historic Vaccination Drive: Evaluating the Stakes, Hurdles and Opportunities. Retrieved May 2021, 2021, from www.orfonline.org: https://www.orfonline.org/research/india-historic-vaccination-drive-evaluating-stakes-hurdles-opportunities/

[3]Meghna, S. (2021, January 03). India's 1st Covid-19 vaccines: DCGI approves Serum, Bharat Biotech vaccines for emergency use. Retrieved May 18, 2021, from www.livemint.com: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/indias-first-vaccines-dcgi-approves-bharat-biotech-s-covaxin-and-sii-s-covishield-11609650896132.html

[4]Rhythma, K. (2021, April 22). Very few infected after 2nd dose of Covid vaccine: Centre. Retrieved May 18, 2021, from www.hindustantimes.com: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/very-few-infected-after-2nd-dose-of-covid-vaccinecentre-101619032244117.html

[5]VAISHNAVI, C. (2021, April 26). How fast can vaccines solve India's COVID-19 crisis? It's complicated. Retrieved May 18, 2021, from www.nationalgeographic.com: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-fast-can-vaccines-solve-indias-covid-19-crisis-its-complicated

[Author Yash Singh Sisodiya is a Research Scholar at DAVV University]