COVID Vaccination · Co-WIN

When COVID-19 struck, India mounted the world's largest vaccination drive. Starting on 16 January 2021 from zero, it administered roughly 220 crore doses within about two years, most of them free. Two of the main vaccines — Covishield (made by Serum Institute) and the indigenous Covaxin — were produced in India, which also exported vaccines to dozens of countries.

The drive ran on Co-WIN, a home-built digital platform that handled registration, appointment scheduling and QR-verified certificates for a billion-plus people — a feat of digital public infrastructure watched worldwide. India offered to share the Co-WIN software with other countries as a global public good.

India ran the pandemic vaccination as a digital-first, free, government-led drive. The Co-WIN platform handled registration, appointments and, crucially, a QR-verified digital certificate for every dose — letting a billion-plus people be tracked across two (and later booster) doses. Vaccines, mostly made in India (Covishield and the home-grown Covaxin), were given free at government centres, with mobile teams reaching remote areas.

The drive delivered over 220 crore doses — the largest vaccination campaign in history — and Co-WIN became a model India now offers other countries as 'digital public infrastructure' for health. The drive came through real hardship — a difficult second wave and early supply gaps — but the lasting gain is the proven ability to run a nationwide health campaign digitally, a template for future immunisation and public-health emergencies.

The drive came through real hardship — a difficult second wave in early 2021 before supply scaled up — and the eventual scale and speed were extraordinary. The lasting task is building health systems ready for the next shock.

0 → ~220 crore doses (2021→2023). World's largest drive; run on Co-WIN. Two India-made vaccines; exports to 90+ countries. Sources: Ministry of Health, Co-WIN.