Main description:

Did you know that vaccines save 3 million lives annually? This potent group of weapons has notably annihilated smallpox, pushed polio to the verge of elimination and is now taking on COVID-19 as the dreaded virus keeps changing forms to survive in its fierce battle with humankind.

Indians practised inoculation centuries before the West discovered vaccines in 1796. India's Vaccine Growth Story charts the journey of vaccines from the Jennerian era to the COVID-19 pandemic, covering multiple facets of vaccines, from the Indian and global perspective. Apart from discussing vaccine leadership, vaccine nationalism, vaccine hesitancy, eagerness and equity, as well as the latest diplomatic currency-the vaccine-maitri, the book also tracks the decade-long vaccine development cycle that was drastically cut short to a few months, taking readers through India's exciting and meticulously-planned sojourn of executing the world's largest vaccination drive.

Contents:

Foreword by Dr Vinod K. Paul
Preface: The Silver Bullet
Acknowledgements
Cowpox to COVID-19
Evolution of Vaccines
India's Vaccine Growth Story: World's Vaccine Pharmacy
Vaccine Economy: Lifesaver and Money Machine
Developing Vaccines at Pandemic Speed
World's Biggest Vaccination Drive
Tackling Vaccine Hesitancy, Equity and Eagerness
India's Vaccine Diplomacy
Promoting Mass Vaccinations: Role of Leadership
Epilogue: New Arsenal, New Challenges
Glossary