India has taken a major and historical leap in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as it has been augmenting its vaccination drive across its territory. In what has become a significant breakthrough for the government's vaccination programme, more than 80 lakh vaccine doses were administered across the country on Monday and it has become the highest single-day vaccination for the country since it began the drive this January. 

Giving a ray of hope, the highest single-day vaccination has come when the Center's revised guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination has taken its effect on Monday. The revised guidelines had allayed the challenges of the states in directly procuring the vaccines from the makers and the guidelines have streamlined the vaccination drive when the country is in desperate need of vaccines. The previous guidelines were in a flawed fashion and driven the country towards major concerns. 

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the revised guidelines of vaccination in a bid of addressing the dearth of vaccines in several parts of the country. As per the guidelines that come into effect on Monday, 75% of the total vaccines manufactured would be procured by the Union government from the vaccine makers while the rest 25% will be supplied to the private hospitals.  

The Union government will be dispatching the vaccines for the states at a free-of-cost based on the requirements, state's population, and rate of COVID-19 infections. As the financial burden for states has been removed in procuring the vaccines, it has been expected that the guidelines will deliver the results of complete vaccination for eligible people and they will put the process in line towards addressing the shortages and concerns, and Union Health Ministry believes that Monday's record-high vaccination will be the prefix of beating the pandemic through vaccines. 

According to the Health Ministry, with Monday's record of 80 lakh vaccines in a day, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has reached 28.33 crores since January 16. Welcoming the record, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and wrote, "Today's record-breaking vaccination numbers of gladdening. The vaccine remains our strongest weapon to fight COVID-19. Congratulations to those who got vaccinated and kudos to all the front-line warriors working hard to ensure so many citizens got the vaccine. Well done India!"

Why India celebrates record-high numbers? Because the country needs it and being one of the devastated countries by COVID-19, it is imperative for India that it needs to contain the pandemic after witnessing the horrendous second wave and with the prediction of the emergence of the third wave. India has also fixed the target of vaccinating most of the people in the 18-44 age category within this year. As the target is huge, the country must keep up its average vaccination numbers by streamlining the process. 

The previous single-day vaccine record was over 48 lakh on April 1 and in June so far, India had seen an average vaccination of around 31 lakh per day, and the average single-day vaccinations had plunged to around 16 lakh in the first week of May when the country was witnessing a peak of the second wave of the pandemic. In a month, the remarkable hit of vaccinating 8 million people in a day had drawn global attention towards India and though the country has miles to go, it has brought a ray of hope to tackle the health crisis. 

The revised guidelines were announced by the Prime Minister on June 7 and in a statement, the Union Health Ministry said, "Today's achievement showcases the trust placed by the people of India in the government in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic." It has further said that the Union government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. 

According to the revised guidelines, vaccine doses would be allocated to the states and UTs based on population, the progress of vaccination, and disease burden. The factor of vaccine wastage would reduce the allocation to the state where the vaccines are wasted in huge numbers. As per the guidelines, the Center will procure 75 per cent of the vaccines from the manufacturers and the states and UTs would be balancing the demand from the private hospitals in getting vaccine doses.

The guidelines further said that all citizens are entitled to free vaccination and those who are able to pay are encouraged to use vaccination centres in private hospitals. Earlier, the Center had allowed the states and private hospitals to procure 50 per cent of the vaccines directly from the makers following demands for decentralization of the process. However, after several states had complained of problems including funding, Prime Minister Modi had announced the revised guidelines that came to effect on June 21. 

It must be noted that India currently has three COVID-19 vaccines - Serum Institute of India's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, and Russias Sputnik V. The government has fixed the standard rates for these vaccines, and per dose of Covishield will cost Rs 780 while the per dose of Covaxin and Sputnik V will cost Rs 1,410 and Rs 1,145 respectively. Earlier on Monday, the Prime Minister said that the Union government is beginning the 'Free Vaccination for All' campaign for every Indian. By citing that the biggest beneficiary of this phase shall be the poor, the middle class, and the youth of the country, the Prime Minister exhorted everyone to get vaccinated to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. 

To get vaccinated and to know the vaccination centres, please visit - https://www.cowin.gov.in/home