As early as April 2020, India had created a national portal to give training to all the Covid frontline workers – https://igot.gov.in/igot/. This has courses on basics of Covid and how to provide care.
In August, the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 was formed and had its first meeting.
This group worked on:
A. The money that will be needed to get the Covid vaccine for India.
B. Should we import or invest in making the vaccine within India. (This is the main reason that India is today one of the foremost manufacturers of the vaccine. Russia has also asked for India’s help in manufacturing its Sputnik V vaccine).
C. Distribution strategy – States, Center, and our neighbouring countries.
D. Manpower planning to ensure coverage of India’s large population.
E. Strategy to monitor the safety of the vaccine.
F. Requirements related to cold storage, transportation, etc.
In October, the government started creating a database of healthcare workers.
At present, 30 vaccine candidates are being developed in India, of which 5 are in Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials.
All through November, the Prime Minister, Home Minister, and the Health Minister tracked the progress of the vaccine in India. The Prime Minister also visited all the 3 facilities making trial vaccines in India.
The government is also talking to industry bodies like CII and FICCI to help in manufacturing and distribution.
On the manpower side, private sector is being explored as a source of talent for people who can carry out the immunisation.
Here are some key numbers on India’s preparedness.
