How can India vaccinate its billion?

Published: May 14, 2021, 5 p.m.

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Earlier this month, India became the first country in the world to report more than 400,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day. And despite being the world's biggest producer of vaccines, the country is facing an acute shortage to meet domestic demand. All Indian adults are currently eligible for a shot, but there are just not enough vaccines to go around.

Access and affordability are two other significant challenges in inoculating a population as large as India's. Although the government is spending $5bn to provide free doses at state-run clinics and hospitals, not everyone is eligible, and the cost of a single shot has massively jumped at private hospitals.

What would it take for India to ramp up production and roll out a successful immunisation programme? In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we look at the road ahead as India tries to vaccinate its billion people.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Dr Sharvil Patel, managing director, Zydus Cadila; Dr Rachna Kucheria, epidemiologist, founder, DocGenie; Shyam Sunder, co-founder, Getjab.in

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