Opinion: How India became a vaccine-making powerhouse

If 2020 will be remembered for a virus that paralysed our planet, 2021 should be defined by a vaccine that healed it. The coronavirus vaccine has had special meaning for India, a country that has emerged as the pharmacy of the world. While India has earned its reputation as a major pharmaceutical hub after decades of steadfast effort, its world-class vaccine ecosystem had not received much attention till the current pandemic was upon us

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© Provided by National Post A medical worker prepares to inoculate a police personnel with a Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at the Police headquarters in Srinagar on January 4, 2021.

India’s inoculation programmes have by far been the largest in the world, with 27-million infants being immunized for 12 diseases annually. Audacious campaigns, such as the Pulse Polio drive, went beyond immunization, to eradication of a crippling disease. This immunization experience was backed by substantial R&D strengths, linking the public and private sectors, integrating academia and industry. India’s evolving vaccine eco-system propelled the country to innovate on vaccine discovery and bet on industrial-scale production. Today, 60 per cent of the global vaccine production capacity is located in India, enabling it to demonstrate the fastest rollout of Covid vaccines anywhere in the world.

Like Canada, India has pursued a science-driven policy in addressing the coronavirus challenge. India’s response to this pandemic has been tailored to the evolving situation in the unique context of huge demographic and geographic complexities. India crafted an effective domestic response with active surveillance, strong sub-regional monitoring, capacity building of frontline healthcare workers, risk communication and deep community engagement, while addressing the psycho-social needs of vulnerable populations.

All this enabled high recovery rates of over 97 per cent. India added capacity even as the country reeled under the pandemic’s early blows: PPEs were locally fabricated, 1.5 million were tested daily, and over a million critical care hospital beds were added. Effective medical interventions allowed India to limit the Covid fatality rate at 112 per million population, much below the global average, despite the challenges of a high population density and the need of many to get back to work.

Quick, smart decisions by a resolute leadership; effective and consistent application of prevention protocols; and a cooperative, vigilant citizenry, have allowed India to push down the infection rate. While the total numbers of infections seem high, the daily infection rates have declined sharply and the number of active cases at about 130 per million is one of the lowest in the world. With strong manufacturing, research and innovation capacities and a large vulnerable population, India rapidly became both a laboratory and hub of vaccine manufacture.

Manufacturing is only one part of the game. The pandemic has highlighted India’s role as a reliable partner in global pharmaceutical supply chains. These capacities have been built diligently over a number of years with active state prodding. India is a major supplier of pharmaceutical products and pre-cursors to global markets, including developed markets in the EU, U.S. and Canada. While India’s production of cost-effective and affordable pharmaceutical products is critical for developing countries in Asia and Africa, the country has also contributed to making health care affordable in many developed countries including Canada. During the pandemic, despite a surge in domestic needs, India continued to supply pharmaceutical pre-cursors and finished products, including essential medicines like paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine, to more than 60 countries in the world, Canada among them.

India began research into a possible vaccine as soon as data on the pandemic became available. Six Indian vaccines soon entered the global race, three indigenous and three joint ventures with global players. On January 03, 2021, India announced the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of two India-manufactured Covid-19 vaccines, namely, Covishield produced by the Serum Institute of India and Covaxin, produced by Bharat Biotech, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research. The approval of Covaxin was conditional and in clinical trial mode with all recipients being tracked and monitored as in a regular trial.

India kicked off its domestic Covid-19 vaccination programme on January 16 this year, the largest such drive in the world with an initial target of 300 million people. Four million health workers received the first jabs within 18 days of the launch, the fastest rollout the world has seen. Driving the success of the project was a robust distribution network with upgraded cold chain equipment, continued training of health workers and a massive outreach and information campaign in support of the vaccination drive.

Last year, addressing the United Nations, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a pledge that India’s vaccine production ecosystem and its innovative capacities would be made available to the entire world in combating the pandemic. This year, India is making good on that promise. The UN Secretary General said in January that India’s vaccine production capacity is ‘one of the best assets that the world has today’.

Even as India managed its own domestic Covid-19 vaccination programme, it started shipping the Covishield vaccine overseas. Reflecting a commitment to “neighbourhood first” and vaccine internationalism, India is providing over twenty million vaccine doses to more than a dozen neighbours and partner countries, helping them kick-start their own vaccine programmes. India’s Prime Minister told the World Economic Forum that more Indian vaccines would soon be available to the world. The made-in-India vaccines are more affordable, and easier to safely store and transport. This allows most less-developed countries to painlessly run their domestic vaccination programmes. Like Canada, India is also committed to the success of the GAVI Alliance; at the global vaccine summit in June 2020, India pledged a contribution of USD 15 million to GAVI. India has now opened commercial export of Covishield with first shipments already delivered to foreign shores.

If the virus was a global public bad that originated in China to quickly choke our world, the vaccine is a global public good that must be equitably available to bring relief to our suffering planet. India is playing a part in providing that healing hand.

Ajay Bisaria is the High Commissioner of India to Canada.