At the PAFI Dialogue organized by Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI), Dr Ram Sewak Sharma, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), National Health Authority, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India and Chairman of Co-WIN Panel said “Co-WIN application is a robust digital infrastructure critical for the success of COVID vaccination which supports in setting eligibility and identity criteria, issuing vaccination certificates and ensuring scalability of the system."

On the question of increasing COVID-19 vaccination speed in India, Dr. Sharma said that supply of vaccine, capacity to vaccinate and demand for the vaccine are crucial determinants. He stressed that vaccination aims to cover people who need the vaccine and not those who want it with the responsibility of state government and local authorities to prevent vaccine wastage.

The theme of the PAFI Dialogue was “COVID vaccination and the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM)”.

Stressing the role of the private sector in vaccination, Dr. Sharma said that “Private sector has the huge role to play in the entire vaccination process ranging from mobilizing and creating awareness about the entire vaccination process and vaccine hesitancy.”

Highlighting NDHM as an industry-led platform and stating the growth of teleconsultation, Dr. Sharma said that currently we are registering 6.2 billion consultations per day and we aim to achieve 200 billion consultations per day.