The light at the end of the tunnel: Covid-19 Vaccine is Here!

Launched on the 16th of January 2021 for healthcare and frontline workers, the COVID vaccination drive in India is all anyone can talk about. In the last few weeks, I have received a few concerned clients’ calls asking about the Covid-19 Vaccine. Now I am no medical expert, and I have only as much information available with me, as has been shared with you by our government, but this is my effort to consolidate vaccine related information in one place for my colleagues, clients and dear friends. The Novel Corona Virus, has truly been a novel experience, including in terms of its inoculation. 2020 was all about the vaccine development, and 2021 will be abuzz with the vaccination program. Here are a few pointers to help you understand and avail the vaccination program provided by the Government of India.

The phase wise roll out

The vaccination program in India will be administered in a phase wise manner. Phase one which started from the 16th of January has covered all the healthcare and frontline workers and we stepped into phase two of the vaccination drive from the 1st of March. This round of vaccination includes people above the age of 60 or over 45 with certain health conditions.

Registering for the vaccine

People who want to get vaccinated in the second phase of COVID-19 vaccination will have to register on the CO-WIN platform. The beneficiaries will be able to self-register in advance via the CO-WIN 2.0 portal. They can then choose the respective Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs) from a list of government and private hospitals and book an appointment for a date and day of their convenience. Registrations can be done for 4 people from the CO-WIN app. Alternatively, you can also register via the Arogya Setu App. On arrival, for those above 60 years, only an identity card is required but those between 45-60 will also be required to present a co-morbidity certificate.

Please note that this is in no way an endorsement of the software applications. I should also mention that there are some concerns regarding the data protection offered by these softwares. Having no other alternative, it is a barter for your personal information for inoculation or the highway.

Vaccine Doses and timeline

For the vaccine to be a success, it is important that the two-dose schedule is administered two, three or four weeks apart via the intramuscular route. In India, both Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin have the same course and schedule: two doses schedule, four weeks apart. The second dose is deemed very important as according to the Centre’s guidelines, the protective levels of antibodies are generally developed two weeks after receiving the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. I make it a point to mention this expressly, as following the first phase of the vaccination, only around 60% of the healthcare workers who had received the first dose, turned up to get the second dose. If international medical and pharmaceutical experts are to be believed, the second dose (within the permitted time limit) is critical for this drive to be successful.

Airing out Concerns

India aims to immunize 30 crore people by July 2021, which will require 60 crore shots of vaccine. This is no small endeavor. One of the vaccine providers in India – Serum Institute of India, has said it has a stockpile of 5 to 7 crore doses and aims to produce 50 crore doses by July 2021. Having said that, we should account for the fact that of those 50 crore doses, include commitments to other countries as well. Such a situation may cause shortages of vaccine supply in the first six months of 2021 in India. The recent fires at SII factory in Pune were not confidence inspiring, however, SII in its statement has assured the nation that the supply of the Covid-19 vaccine will not be affected due to the fire.

Another problem that India faces with the vaccination program is cold storage facilities. These are crucial for delivering vaccines as refrigeration is a requisite to ensure mRNA within these vaccines remain stable. Research has found that nearly half of the cold storage chain points and related equipment are concentrated in just six states, making it difficult to carry out a uniform distribution.

To add to that, untrue claims are being spread on social media regarding side-effects of the vaccine is also leading to vaccine hesitancy among a lot of people. Now more than ever, we all must be cautious of the content we are consuming and what we choose to believe. To be sincere, the covid-19 virus being so new, we do not have any studies on the long-term effects of the virus. While there is understandable apprehension that the vaccine trial process has been quickened to address a planet in pandemic state, the vaccine is said to have at the least 70% efficacy. New developments and information regarding the vaccine rollout, its side-effects, its effect on certain pre-existing conditions are coming to light each day. All we can do is consult our doctors, trust the process and hope that we reach the end of this tunnel soon.