India garners praise across globe for efficient vaccine rollout

2020 will go down in history as the year the world faced lock downs and rising graphs of Coronavirus cases. The novel coronavirus pandemic caught everyone off-guard and a vaccine may or may not be found, feared some, citing cases of HIV which still has no vaccine. Scientists worked day and night and found - not one but several vaccines - and the world discovered India's capacity to rollout the doses at breakneck speed.

Amidst all the gloom and worries of a pandemic, if one can make a difference to the world to ease even a little pain, it seems like a deed that needs to be done.

India did just that. The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines by India in collaboration with leading global institutions has "rescued the world" from the deadly coronavirus and the contributions by the country must not be underestimated, a top American scientist has stated.

It is not through PR and advertising but due to its concrete work in the field that India is called the pharmacy of the world, especially looked up to in the days of the COVID-19 pandemic. India is known the world over as the world's biggest drug-makers and several countries have been making a beeline to procure the coronavirus vaccines produced here.

The latest accolades come from Dr Peter Hotez, the Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston - pointed out exactly why the effective (potent) yet economically priced vaccines produced in India's setups are key to global recovery from the pandemic. Dr Hotez pointed out that the two mRNA vaccines may not impact the world's low and middle income countries, but India's vaccines - made in collaboration with universities across the world such as BCM and the Oxford University, have rescued the world and the manner in which it collaborated with the world's universities and rolled out a viable supply for the world is worthy of applause.

Dr Peter Hotez said this during a recent webinar titled "Covid-19: Vaccination and Potential Return to Normalcy" organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH).

Wall Street Journal Pours Out Praises:

In early January, the WSJ headline a huge laudatory report titled "India’s Vaccine Colossus Is a Model for the World to Follow", praising India's vaccine rollout.

WSJ highlighted that India's Serum Institute is manufacturing vaccines not just for the world’s second-most populous country, but many other countries too. "...countries could take a leaf from India’s book when it comes to manufacturing crucial items that might encounter massive demand surges, and where national priorities come to the fore."

The WSJ also praised how Serum institute, a private enterprise, works in close coordination with the nation's government. It also lauded the supplying companies that provided essential bottling and packaging of the vaccine. "The Serum Institute’s work requires a reliable and large domestic supply of the vials in which the vaccines are sealed and transported, ensured by companies such as Schott Kaisha and Piramal Glass... Many far richer countries have fretted about shortages of such vital components because they are usually imported, and supplies are now uncertain with demand sky-high. Given the achingly slow pace at which European vaccines are being rolled out, the Indian program may well end up as a model for the world."

WHO Showers Praises:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on 25 February lauded India's efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "supporting" vaccine equity. He also urged other countries to follow India's example.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, the WHO chief said, "Thanks, India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting vaccine equity. Your commitment to COVAX and sharing COVID-19 vaccine doses is helping 60+ countries start vaccinating their health workers and other priority groups. I hope other countries will follow your example."

The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation Applauds:

Bill Gates has lauded India's innovation and vaccine manufacturing capacity that will go a long way in the fight to end the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) - led by the latter's CEO Adar Poonawalla - entered into a new partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to speed up the process of manufacture and delivery of up to 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for India and other third world countries.

The 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine that arrived in Ghana in last week of February were produced by the Serum Institute of India.
Grateful Nations:

The New York Times cited how the most-in-demand commodity - the COVID vaccine - is now also a diplomatic ticket as "India, the unmatched vaccine manufacturing power, is giving away millions of doses to neighbours friendly and estranged".

Another WSJ report lauded India's quick support to smaller countries. It said when an Indian Navy aircraft landed in the archipelago nation of Seychelles last month, the country's foreign minister and other senior officials lined up on the tarmac to welcome its precious cargo: 50,000 doses of Indian made AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.