Achieving National Coverage in India: Experiences from Rotavirus Vaccine Introduction

Voices of Public Health

Rotavirus is a major cause of childhood disease and death in India. In 2016, the Government of India began a phased introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, and by 2019, the vaccine had been scaled up to cover the entire country. In this interview, Rebecca Chase, a Program Officer with JSI's Immunization Center, speaks with Dr. Arup Deb Roy, Project Director, and Dr. Amanjot Kaur, Senior Program Officer, both with JSI Private Limited’s new vaccine introduction team, about their experiences working the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to introduce the rotavirus vaccine in India. They discuss the challenges and successes of introducing a new vaccine in a large country like India and how their approach could be replicated for future vaccines.