Opinion At 2 billion: India’s Covid vaccination drive is a remarkable success

If there’s one thing that puts the significance of India’s 2 billion Covid jabs landmark in perspective, it’s this: Social and economic life has, by all accounts, returned to pre-pandemic normalcy. Though the virus continues to cause illness, it’s not anything close to the lethal pathogen that was ravaging the country this time last year. Vaccines have changed the course of the pandemic — hospitalisation and fatality rates have been low in the last eight months, even during periods of spike in infection. That the public health emergency was overcome across the country, without the rural-urban divide holding back vaccine distribution, is a commendable feat for regulatory, administrative and medical agencies under the Centre and states, as it is for the countless healthcare workers on the frontlines. It’s true that the country has vaccine manufacturers of proven capability and its child immunisation projects helped mobilise a cadre of reliable vaccinators. Yet the Covid inoculation drive posed unprecedented challenges — regulators had to work on compressed schedules and vaccine hesitancy tested the persuasive powers of local officials and healthcare workers. It wasn’t always smooth sailing. The supply mechanism broke down when the Centre left the states to their devices during the second wave and it required the Supreme Court’s nudge, in June last year, for the vaccination drive to gather momentum.

Last week, the Centre began a special 75-day drive in which the third precautionary dose is being administered free at all government vaccination centres. This is a welcome initiative. The jury, though, is still out on the efficacy of the current lot of vaccines against the sub-variants of the Omicron strain that is responsible for most of the Covid infections today. Conversations in several developed countries have moved on to countering these relatively less virulent strains that leave lingering effects on patients. Last month, pharma majors Pfizer and BioNtech announced that a booster dose of their vaccine candidate had yielded a “significantly higher response against Omicron” in clinical trials. Experts, however, caution against laying much store on these initiatives, given the virus’s capacity to develop vaccine-resistant versions. They also point out that regular administration of boosters is not feasible. Some experts believe that the answer to this predicament lies in a pan-variant vaccine, one that can tackle all coronaviruses. As in most aspects of the pandemic, there is no unanimity amongst experts on this question. That said, at least 10 universal candidates are in different stages of development. India should not be an outlier in these experiments.

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Last month, in recognition of India’s position on intellectual property rights on vaccines, the WTO agreed to waive patents on Covid vaccines. Vaccine manufacturers in India shouldn’t lose this opportunity to initiate conversations with laboratories where work on the universal vaccine is on — other than pharma majors, these include universities and non-profits. If need be, the government should enable such efforts. The lessons from the past one-and-a-half years should guide the next round of vaccinations.