With just two days left for the Covid-19 vaccination exercise to commence across the country which in terms of volume will be unmatched, last-minute touches for the preparations are on. Watching the hectic activities going across the length and breadth of the country one might have a feeling that the pre-poll days of any general election are minnows. The initial phases of any major activity which involves a very large portion of the general populace, particularly in an over-populated country like India are always crucial and in that sense, the first phase of COVID inoculation too will be of huge importance since it will provide the useful inputs for the way forward to the following phases when common people i.e. those falling outside the category of priority groups will be covered. It will not only be the test of the respective Health Ministries of the Centre and the states, but for the entire nation too. For making this an exemplary success, each one of the stakeholders will have to perform and excel. For Arunachal, hopefully, the hindrances will be outsmarted and the ultimate aim of making the exercise glitch-free will be reached.

As per latest reports, nearly sixty lakh doses of Covishield on Tuesday had left Serum Institute of India’s Pune facilities and around 56.5 lakh doses were despatched by air while the remaining consignment had taken the road routes. The refrigerated trucks and planes will find their way to around 60 different consignee points across the country from where they will be distributed to the pre-determined vaccination centres. It’s akin to war-time activities and India’s case will be unique since the sheer size of the population will make the task more challenging compared to the countries in the West and Europe. A considerable amount of world attention is about to be cast on how the second-most populous country meets its COVID vaccination challenge. While the actions that have just picked up momentum will elicit some amount of hope among people, an important query, however, still has no answer. Will the vaccination expenses for the common people be borne by the government, as it has been the case for 3 crore healthcare workers and frontline workers? There is a growing demand in this respect with the principal argument that millions of people overnight have been pushed below the poverty line through loss of jobs, all due to successive pandemic-induced lockdowns and one must have to wait to see if this is ultimately met.

For Arunachal, in the overall perspective while the low population density will come as a plus point, the real challenge will be in reaching out to the people. The aim must be of a full coverage and the extra miles necessary for it must be walked.