The campaign for Covid-19 vaccine requires a 360-degree approach

As India readies to kick off a Covid-19 vaccination programme, an awareness campaign unlike any the country has seen in terms of sheer scale and urgency will be key to achieving its goal of universal coverage.

Some lessons can be drawn from the two-decade-long pulse polio mass immunisation campaign that was memorably captured by an iconic phrase: “Do boond zindagi ki (Two drops of life).” The result was that in March 2014, the World Health Organisation recognised India as polio-free. 

Although India has announced two vaccines at the start of the new year, the much anticipated news has, however, failed