The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently released commemorative postal stamp on COVID-19 vaccine. The stamp was launched to mark the first anniversary of the National COVID Vaccination Programme or the COVID vaccination drive.

Design of the stamp

The stamp has a health care worker vaccinating a senior citizen. The stamp also shows the image of COVAXIN vial. The stamp was launched to signify the works done by the community workers and frontline health care workers, especially during the COVID-19 times.

COVID Vaccination drive

The COVID vaccination drive was launched in January 2021. It is the largest vaccination drive in the world. It aimed to vaccinate 1.3 billion people. Unlike other countries, the drive did not force the vaccines on people. The drive first focused on the frontline health care workers. India had made records of vaccinating 25 million people in a day. Apart from inoculating its own people, India has also exported 66 million COVID-19 doses under Vaccine Maitri programme. India has been supportive while the developed countries shied away from taking responsibilities. According to United Nations, the G-7 countries have procured one billion vaccines. Of this, 10% expired by December 2021. Apart from this, India had also launched COVID Suraksha to accelerate the vaccine development process. It offers grants to the COVID vaccines researches. It is implemented by the BIRAC-Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council.