75 Years of Vaccination in India and Way Ahead

Prevention of diseases through vaccination has been a key component of Preventive Medicine. The history of vaccination in India begins from pre-Independence where Small pox vaccine was introduced for the first time and administered through tikadars(vaccinators) till post-Independence where the political will and the medical experts helped us eliminate Poliomyelitis- a dreaded disease. Post-Independence, India has come a long way from starting the manufacturing of vaccines, introducing Expanded Polio Immunization (1978) and Universal Immunization Programme (1985) to a path breaking performance in Covid-19 vaccination. The Covid-19 vaccination has brought India under the limelight globally and are ready to take up further challenges. The Covid-19 vaccination is a model in itself for the world and has been analysed in detail from planning to its execution. This paper attempts to review the history of vaccination from pre-Independence era in brief to a greater focus on how it paved a way for further developments in the domain of Vaccination post-Independence in the country.