India’s extraordinary vaccination story

Despite detractors and usual naysayers, India has done well on both vaccine and vaccination fronts.

When the pandemic kickstarted and had just begun to spread in India, there were many around the world who were revelling in guesstimating the likely deaths that India might suffer.

The pandemic has definitely taken a heavy toll on the country, its people and its economy. However, the pushback too has been spectacular. With its still growing and incipient existing health infrastructure, India, its healthcare professionals and scientists fought back hard.

The disease is still raging in the country. But, the resistance too is growing by the day. And it would not be just if the fightback too is not acknowledged.

Within one and a half year, India has two vaccines to fight the pandemic. One indigenously developed and another being manufactured with licence. There is Sputnik V too and ZyCov-D.

Now, India is also conducting trial on children and it is estimated that India would be in a position to start vaccinating its children within months too.

Even on vaccination front, the achievement is something to boast about. Already more than 29 crores of people have been vaccinated. On June 21, the first day of new vaccination regime, more than 82 lakh people were vaccinated. Even next day, the figure went up to more than 50 lakhs.

This is extraordinary effort by any standards. If the country is able to vaccinate all its population by the end of this year, it would deserve all the pats on its back for putting up a brave fight against the pandemic against all odds.

This pandemic and this virus need to be defeated. This has thrown normal life out of gear and everyone is raring to go back to normal life.

Our people deserve a normal life. We must restore normalcy by defeating this virus.