Project Geographies

The Government of India launched the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination program in January 2021 to accelerate vaccination uptake among vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations in the country. The MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity project supports the country’s nationwide roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine. The project contributes to ongoing global efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on immunization services and support the central and state government to prepare for, introduce, and roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines.

Addressing Gaps and Challenges

Despite sustained efforts to increase coverage and access to vaccination, there has been low coverage among vulnerable, marginalized, and hard-to-reach populations. Vaccine hesitancy and prevalence of myths, misconceptions, rumors, and misinformation added to challenges in ensuring equitable coverage.
Increased caseload, hospitalization, and death surges have affected countless individuals, placing the public health system under severe strain. Instances of supply exceeding demand and delays in timely procurement and distribution of vaccines further aggravated the on-ground situation across states.

Key Objectives

Generating demand for the COVID-19 vaccine by designing targeted interventions.

Supporting the national and state governments in reaching the most vulnerable and marginalized communities for improved COVID-19 vaccination coverage.

Strengthening supply chain management of COVID-19 vaccine from the point of manufacture to last-mile delivery.

JSIPL’s Role through MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation & Equity Project

To address challenges facing the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in India, the project provides technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and state governments to strengthen COVID-19 vaccination implementation. John Snow India Private Limited (JSIPL) provides technical assistance and program management of COVID-19 vaccination with day-to-day technical and managerial oversight for activities. Local Indian partner organizations (NGOs) play a critical strategic role in the implementation, particularly at the state level and below, supporting last-mile service delivery strategies and community engagement to increase demand and fair coverage of services. The project also supports improved data quality and visibility to inform vaccine supply decisions, including mapping public and private sector facilities, developing tailored approaches, and leveraging available service delivery points for vaccine administration.

Achievements

Facilitated administration of 13.8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses across project states against the target of 14 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
Around 42.4 million people directly benefited through on-ground interventions and community messaging targeted at demand generation and quality service delivery.
Oriented more than 79,000 health workers, district vaccine store managers, cold chain handlers, and frontline workers across project states on COVID-19 vaccination.
Acting as a critical contributor to National COVID-19 vaccination data compilation and analytical support to the Government of India and state governments.
Established over 350 local partnerships with private and local bodies at the state and sub-state levels to support last-mile delivery and community engagement activities. It supported over 26 NGOs to improve COVID-19 vaccination coverage.

*Data as on 31 October 2022

Looking Ahead

The unprecedented COVID-19 vaccine roll-out has necessitated rapid and continuous learning to inform adaptation to suit different target groups.

Working with MoHFW and other immunization and public health partners, the project is helping to improve the quality of services and support the Government’s ambitious COVID-19 vaccination goals.