A national vaccination campaign ought to be run like an election

Sometime over the next 12 months, a vaccine against COVID-19 is likely to be available. The task of administering it to few hundred million people—perhaps even over a billion—so that India acquires herd immunity appears daunting. That is, until you realise that India routinely carries out a task of the same scale and similar complexity fairly regularly. I’m referring to elections. If you think about it, a national vaccination programme is like a general election, but at much lower temperatures. It is a good idea to approach it as one because our elections involve a combination of administrative machinery, mindsets and behaviours that are ideal for a rapid national vaccination programme.Read more