India, the largest democracy, rolled out the world’s largest vaccination drive on 16 January 2021, administering nearly 3006 sites across all its 28 states and eight UTs. And the CoWIN has steered India’s public health response and vaccination vehicle to confront, combat, and control the contagion in a systematic, synchronous, and sustained way. This is the platform through which India has administered approximately 350 million doses of Covid vaccines. On 21 June 2021, India vaccinated about 9 million people in one day, which is also the highest ever single-day vaccination coverage across the world as per the tweet of the Union Health Minister.
The silhouettes of India’s e-governance and essence of Digital India have touched another magical breakthrough, when the largest democracy has opened its digital vaccination arms before the world as a sharing gesture (Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas) while organising CoWIN Global Conclave on 5 July 2021.
COVID VACCINE INTELLIGENCE NETWORK SYSTEM
In December last year, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) & Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had announced the launching of “CoWIN”, a grand challenge for strengthening the COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) system, a digitalised platform, which would enable to effectively roll out and scale up the mechanism for COVID Vaccine Distribution System nationally. IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced a grand challenge for innovators and start-ups to strengthen the Co-WIN system. Firstly, The vaccination registration process on the portal started for citizens above 60 years of age and those between the age of 45 and 59 years with one of the specified comorbidities. Further registration opened for all eligible populations to be vaccinated(age group 18-45). Even since its inception, this robust e-vaccination portal has been serving as the bedrock of India’s vaccination drive which handles overall management of citizen registration, scheduling vaccination appointment, certification post-vaccination, tracking of each dose of vaccine, monitoring of supplies at the vaccination facilities to record the demand-supply curve at a granular level. The portal has assisted in enabling vaccine accessibility, equitable coverage, and inclusivity across States and Union Territories while also offsetting information asymmetry and aligning stakeholders.
COWIN GLOBALCONCLAVE: A MULTILATERALE-VACCINATION PORTAL
The CoWIN Global Conclave, a collaborative initiative of Ministries of Health& Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and Government of India and National Health Authority (NHA), has been organised primarily to share India’s involvement and experiences with the world related to its systematic and sustained universal vaccination drive to combat COVID-19 through CoWIN. It aimed at converting the very experience into a digital public good to the world.
The conclave was attended by dignitaries from 142 nations comprising South Asian neighbours (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Maldives), Caribbean nations (Antigua, Barbuda, Guyana, St. Kitts & Nevis), Africa (Zambia) and et al.
The other features attached with the CoWIN portal like robustness, inclusiveness, and scalability make it capable of preventing rent-seeking, black marketing, and other mismanagements.
WHAT INDIA HAS OFFERED TO THE WORLD VIA COWIN
The spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (i.e., Indian civilizational belief and value system considers the world as one family) was also reflected and upheld in the address made by Indian PM Narendra Modi at the Conclave. The Covid-19 contagion has made many countries realize the fundamental truth of this philosophy. That’s why, India’s technology platform for Covid-19 vaccination— the platform popular by the name CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work) is being prepared to be made open source. PM Modi emphasized upon collective learning and mutual sharing of best practices while extending global combat against a global contagion and ultimately keeping humanity and human wellbeing at the apex echelon. And, right from the beginning of the Covid-19, India has been committed to sharing all its experiences, expertise, and resources with the global community in this scuffle despite all its constraints. He further opined upon the significance of technology (ICT) in the combat against COVID-19. And, the software is one domain in which there are no resource restraints. Keeping this strategy in loop, India made its Covid-19 tracking and tracing App (Aarogya Setu) available and accessible as open-source software as soon as it was technically feasible. With a nearly 200 million user base, India’s ‘Aarogya Setu’ application is a readily available package for developers. Having been used in India, one can be sure that it has been tested in the real world for speed and scale.Through the CoWIN Conclave, India has re-emphasized the strategy that “vaccinating everyone is the key to contain and combat the contagion”, and India is all open to extending its digital arm and digital diplomacy to pace up the global vaccination pace. CoWIN can be a game-changer for developing economies and underdeveloped regions in their fight against Covid-19. India is on the trajectory of harnessing its technological skills along with vast economic reforms to open up Indian markets to global businesses and investment and putting itself not only, as the “Pharmacy Capital of the world”, but also, preparing to be turned as the “technology capital of the world”. This conclave has further deepened our focus on amplifying digitalisation and India has started to acknowledge its potential to transform its potential as a true global technology giant.