India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been praised by Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya. In a virtual address to ‘The India Dialog’ session on the Economic Impact of Vaccination & Related Matters, he noted that processes and structures for pandemic management were put in place well before COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization in January 2020.
Under the leadership of Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, India adopted a ‘Whole of Government’ and ‘Whole of Society’ approach in a proactive, preemptive, and graded manner, which Dr. Mandaviya stated adopted a holistic response strategy for effective management of COVID-19.
During the session, Dr. Mandaviya also released a working paper by Stanford University and the Institute for Competitiveness titled “Healing the Economy: Estimating the Economic Impact on India’s vaccination and related issues.” The paper discusses the role of containment as a measure to prevent the spread of the virus and highlights that a bottom-up approach was critical in containing the virus.
The working paper elaborates on India’s strategy of containment, relief package, and vaccine administration, which it notes were critical in saving lives and ensuring economic activity. It also highlights that robust measures at the ground level, such as contact tracing, mass testing, home quarantine, distribution of essential medical equipment, revamping healthcare infrastructure, and constant coordination among stakeholders at the center, state, and district levels, not only helped contain the spread of the virus but also augmented the health infrastructure.
The working paper further states that India was able to save more than 3.4 million lives by conducting a nationwide vaccination campaign on an unprecedented scale. The vaccination campaign was focused on saving lives, but it also had a positive economic impact by preventing US$18.3 billion in losses. The net benefit for the nation after taking into consideration the cost of the vaccination campaign was US$ 15.42 billion.
India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been a remarkable example of a coordinated and comprehensive strategy that aimed to save lives while minimizing the economic impact of the pandemic. The working paper’s findings suggest that India’s proactive approach has paid dividends, not just in terms of containing the virus but also in terms of sustaining livelihoods and developing immunity against the virus.
