End The Pandemic Swiftly

Engage the public, pre-empt Covid-19 vaccination campaign disruptions

- Aastha Kant, Ria Golecha and K Viswanath

The government of India has recently approved two vaccines to prevent Covid-19 and, based on the number of candidate vaccines in clinical trials, more vaccines are on their way. The development of efficacious and safe vaccines in such a short span of time is a scientific feat that has few historical parallels and a signal demonstration of what decades of investment in scientific enterprise can do.

Equally important, if not more critical, is the daunting task of administering the vaccine to hundreds of millions of people into the farthest reaches of India. While development and deployment of safe vaccines is a matter of basic science and logistics, building trust and confidence in vaccines requires a different science – understanding human behaviour.

Anti-vaccine forces are already at work globally to engender mistrust threatening the vaccination programme. It is essential that we address early any signs of public distrust by engaging with the public and pre-empt the potential Covid-19 vaccine programme disruptions. When people see the risk of Covid-19 as a serious threat, and have a high degree of trust in science, vaccine acceptance grows. Transparency and trust are foundational to vaccine confidence and acceptance.

Viral misinformation has historically travelled faster than vaccines in India. The history of vaccination in India offers some important lessons. While immunisation is a success story in India, it has not been without challenges. India has witnessed serious resistance to several vaccines.