In the 21st century, almost all aspects of our life are governed by technology. There is an app for everything. India’s vaccination programme against COVID-19 is no exception to this. The challenge however, is of an epic proportion – to vaccinate a population of 1.3 billion, not all of who have a smartphone.

In Episode 4 of the podcast ‘Healthy Dose’, Vidhi’s Shreya Shrivastava speaks with Dr RS Sharma, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)of the National Health Authority and the man behind the COWIN app and portal to discuss how technology will supplement India’s experience in conducting a large scale vaccination programme, and its limitations in doing the same.

Reading List:

1. ‘How COVID-19 vaccine will reach Indian market’, Business Today
2. ‘COVID-19: The logistic challenges of vaccine distribution in India’, V Venkateshwara Rao (National Herald)
3. ‘India’s vaccine distribution challenge explained in five charts’, Tauseef Shahidi and Nikhil Rampal (LiveMint)
4. ‘Explained: Understanding Covid-19 vaccine wastage in India’, Kaunain Sheriff M. (The Indian Express)
5. ‘We need a robust architecture for vaccine administration: RS Sharma, National Health Authority’, Nayantara Rai (The Economic Times)
6. ‘CoWIN app shall form foundation of Covid-19 vaccination drive: Centre’, Business Standard

Credits:

Concept and Script: Yogini Oke and Shreya Shrivastava
Editing: Akshat Agarwal
Research: Rajashri Seal
Production: Nithin Shamsudhin
Design: Akhil Tom Prakash