Highlights
- India has one of the largest vaccine manufacturing capacities in the world
- India's COVID-19 vaccine rollout will begin in quarter 1 of 2021
- The central government has prioritised 30 million people for vaccination
Singapore: India’s role in the global COVID-19 vaccine rollout will be significant both as a recipient of the medicine as well as a producer, according to Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research. The country has one of the largest vaccine manufacturing capacities in the world (including the largest vaccine producer – Serum Institute India) and has secured authorisation to mass-produce the AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Gamaleya Research Institute vaccines. With a population of 1.3 billion (and 94 million over 65-year-olds), the domestic vaccination drive will be the largest in the world, said Fitch.
The country has a good track record of such drives with masses of the population regularly gaining inoculation for various diseases such as polio and cholera. India’s vaccine rollout will begin in Q1 2021 with frontline healthcare workers and individuals over the age of 50 years gaining priority.
The government aims to vaccinate some 250 million people over six-to-eight months, which Fitch said is a lofty goal.
However, if India can quickly ramp up vaccinations to roughly the same level as the 1 million Covid-19 tests it conducts each day, then we expect coverage across priority groups can be achieved by June 2021.
Risks to this outlook include the sheer scale of the project and relatively weak institutions and healthcare infrastructure, these challenges could result in a slower rollout than expected, it added.
Also Read: There May Not Be A Second Peak Of COVID-19 In India: Experts
Fitch said access to Covid-19 vaccines is set to vary significantly across Asia depending on the advance purchase agreements a given country has reached with vaccine developers.
Developed markets have generally purchased access to vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca while smaller countries with strong healthcare systems will have an advantage in rolling out vaccines.
Also Read: Global Partnership COVAX Secures Two Billion COVID-19 Vaccine Doses
Vaccine access for emerging markets is likely to be more varied with a larger role for supply from China and Russia and their state-developed vaccine candidates. “We note that some markets have already begun mass vaccinations with limited phase three trial data available,” it said.
With diverse healthcare systems and populations, the practical administration of vaccines is expected to vary considerably. “If countries struggle to ramp up the number of daily vaccinations then rollout could again drag into 2022.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.
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