Countless Challenges

24/10/2020

There have been more than 40 million cases of Covid-19 in the world and more than 11,15,000 people have died due to Corona in the world. The situation of Corona in India is also under control but worrisome. So far 1,14,000 people have died due to corona in the country. More than 60,000 corona cases are still being reported daily in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan are constantly reviewing the situation of Corona. New guidelines are being issued on regular basis. Clinical trials on three Covid vaccines are going on in India. 2 vaccines are in the second phase and one vaccine is in the third phase. The vaccine poses many challenges for a large country like India. The production, storage, distribution and vaccination of vaccines will be a challenging task for 140 crore Indians. Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has expressed the hope that by July 2021, 20 to 25 crore people can get the Corona vaccine. The vaccine will be affected only when 2 shots of vaccine are applied. A dose of 50 crore of vaccine will be required for 25 crore Indians.
The first and foremost challenge facing the country is the successful manufacture of the vaccine. Trial work is underway on more than 150 projects related to the corona vaccine in the world. Three vaccines are being worked on in India as well. Pre-clinical trials are performed on animals before starting the vaccine preparation. Upon success, the trial work is started on humans. It has three phases. In the first phase, at least 20 people are vaccinated. In the second phase, the vaccine is trialed over 100 people. In the third and final phase, clinical trials are conducted on more than 10,000 people. There is no guarantee that the vaccine trial will be successful in all three stages. Production of Vaccine begins after successfully completing all three phases of clinical trial. One shot of any vaccine is not enough. If 2 shots of the corona vaccine will be necessary, then a dose of 280 crore of vaccines will be required for the 140 crore Indians. Making it will be a big challenge. This work may take several years. Even assuming 50 million doses are made in a day, it will take about 600 days to make 280 crore doses. Availability of Raw materials, required for the production of vaccine will also be a challenge. India will also need at least 175 crore vials and 175 crore syringes for the vaccine.
Immunization will require 50,000 health workers. The government will have to contract for vaccination with all major hospitals. Giving vaccines to millions of people a day will also be a challenging task. Some individuals or communities may also refuse to take the vaccine. The challenge before the government will be how to deal with such people or communities. The biggest challenge for the central government will be to monitor crores of units of the vaccine. The government will have to further strengthen the real-time tracking infrastructure. Otherwise the vaccine will be sent elsewhere but will reach elsewhere. Health workers, army and paramilitary personnel, police, drivers, sweepers, teachers, people above the age of 55 years as well as children below 3 years of age should be first vaccinated in the country. They should get the vaccine in the first phase by July 2021. Vaccination should begin from Mumbai, the most affected city by Corona. All political parties must understand the situation of Covid19 pandemic and help the central government in storage, distribution, tracking of vaccine and also in vaccination.

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