How India brought COVID vaccines in record time; timeline of important decisions in last one year

Here's a look at how the Indian government took crucial decisions that fast-tracked the development, production and rollout of COVID vaccines.

Light at the end of the tunnel has kept millions going through the challenging times of a pandemic. It's been over a year since our lives took a drastic turn, our lifestyles changed completely, and new norms became a part of our routines. Amidst all this, the hope remained that once the vaccines are ready and rolled out for masses, we can all bring back normalcy that we knew before the COVID pandemic.

India has been fighting the ultimate battle against the virus, and despite the unfortunate deaths and inability to control the spread of the virus effectively, the country has overcome major challenges and obstacles in bringing the vaccine for all. To this day, millions of people have been vaccinated, many received their two doses as well. But all this did not just happen overnight.

Timeline of important decisions w.r.t COVID vaccines

Here's a timeline of some of the most important decisions taken by the central government to speed up the vaccination drive in India.

April 29, 2020	COVID task-force was set up to provide support to any possible vaccine rollouts in future
May 5, 2020	PM Modi chaired meeting with Task Force on COVID vaccine, hurdles faced by vaccine manufacturers were cleared
May 17, 2020	Grassroot execution of streamlined and responsive framework to bolster vaccine production
June 13, 2020	SII signs deal with AstraZeneca to exclusive manufacture its vaccine in India
June 30, 2020	PM Modi enunciated four guiding principles to form the foundation of the national effort. Vaccinate vulnerable groups first Vaccination of "anyone, anywhere" Vaccines to be affordable, universal Support, monitor vaccine production in real-time
June 30, 2020	Creation of a tech platform that would complement vaccination at scale across the nation - CoWIN as we know it today
July 21, 2020	SII committed to few million vaccine doses by Nov-Dec 2020, 300 million doses by March 2021. Vaccine got its name - Covidshield
August 12, 2020	Govt sets up National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC), met for first time
September 27, 2020	India supported global community by exporting vaccines to save millions around the world
October 15, 2020	PM Modi reviewed vaccine research and development, reiterated support for vaccine development ecosystem
October 17, 2020	PM Modi reviewed COVID situation in India, vaccine preparedness, delivery, distribution and administration
November 20, 2020	PM Modi reviewed India's vaccination strategy, including issues like prioritization of population groups, reaching out to HCWs, cold-chain Infrastructure augmentation, adding vaccinators and tech platform for vaccine roll-out
November 28, 2020	PM Modi visited vaccine plants, reviewed progress and next course of action
December 7, 2020	SII applies for emergency use authorization for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELD
January 3, 2021	DCGI grants approval to vaccines of Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech - India's first vaccines approved and ready for rollout
January 12, 2021	First shipments of Covidshield vaccines left to multiple locations
January 16, 2021	Worlds largest vaccination drive started with frontline workers, 50+ and under-50 age group with co-morbidities.