Firstpost: India Must Build Immunisation And Delivery System
As World Waits For COVID-19 Vaccine, India Must Use Time To Build Robust Immunisation Plan, Delivery System For Last-mile Reach
Firstpost, Suryaprabha Sadasivan And Abhinav Verma, 1 July 2020
(Image courtesy of AP)
The world has been embroiled in a fight against the novel coronavirus for over six months now with only one end-point in sight — a COVID-19 vaccine. An invisible army of scientists are working across the world hoping to achieve what usually takes decades in just a few months. As of 20 June, 169 vaccines were in development and 11 were undergoing clinical testing.
Even though the success of the steroid drug Dexamethasone in COVID-19 treatment is a promising development, the true victory against the viral disease will be when 60-70 per cent of the world’s population has been immune to the virus (known as herd immunity). The vaccine can catalyse this in a way that is considered safe and truly enable a realistic return out of lockdowns and into the normal status quo.
