“The word global pandemic is intimidating in itself and can rattle even the strongest of minds,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he narrated leading India’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic which not only broke spirits across the world but brought it to a standstill — economically, physically and emotionally.
Experiences such as these make up History TV18’s latest offering ‘The Vial – India’s Vaccine Story’ — a documentary detailing the untold story of India’s grit and determination to ensure the Covid-19 vaccine reaches every citizen in the remotest parts of the country.
Narrated by actor Manoj Bajpayee, the 60-minute documentary that aired at 8pm on Friday traces India’s journey from deciding to develop a vaccine on its own to becoming the world’s saviour by providing the jabs to several countries.
In a first, PM Modi talks about how his government decided to end red-tapism and empower people to take decisions that would hasten the vaccine process. He also recalled how despite knowing the financial hardships people would face during the countrywide lockdown, it was the citizens who came forward to take part in Janta curfew.
“The only way to escape the pandemic is to save yourself. ‘Jaan hai toh jahaan hai’. I was able to educate people about this,” he said.
The documentary also features interviews of vaccine manufacturers — Adar Poonawala, CEO of Serum Institute of India, and Dr Krishna Ella, chairman of Bharat Biotech — among others such as Dr Shamika Ravi, public policy expert; Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, founder and chairman, Narayana health; Dr Priya Abraham, director, Pune’s National Institute of Virology; Dr Balram Bhargava, former DG, ICMR; Mansukh Mandaviya, Health Minister; and Bill Gates.
The film also salutes the spirit of several frontline workers who navigated not just tough terrains, inclement weather and lack of transportation but also rigid mindsets and vaccine hesitancy to ensure India’s inoculation programme earned praise worldwide and not a single Indian was left out of the ‘Suraksha Kavach’.
The country’s initiatives such as the development of the CoWIN App and Vaccine Maitri to help other countries with the vaccine also found a mention in the documentary, serving as a reminder of how technology paired with the need to serve humanity and determination to defeat an invisible enemy can help the world power through a pandemic as big and debilitating as Covid-19.
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