From Labs to Jabs: How agility, ability and adaptability led to the success of India?s COVID-19 vaccination program

This book is a first-hand account of how India's COVID-19 Vaccine Program successfully delivered over a billion jabs in less than two years. The authors, in an engaging manner, reveal to the readers those critical levers that led to this phenomenal accomplishment and drew the world’s attention to India. Based on interactions with the key people involved in this mega-crisis time management, it lays bare the strategies and actions that led to the purposeful indigenization of supply chains despite regulatory complexities, time and resource constraints.

The book describes the entire process as it happened, starting from the formation of national expert groups, development of the vaccines and approval processes - including the masterstroke of rolling reviews. The book also presents aspects that critically balanced speed with safety, the funding mechanisms, setting up and operationalizing of the cold chains, human resource mobilization, technology leveraging in the form of apps, public perception management to overcome vaccine hesitancy up to the facility management for final jabs. The authors also identify critical systemic bottlenecks and discuss the recipe for a new normal of decision-making.

The book argues that this large-scale disaster management program was successful because leadership did not get confined to a single individual. Instead it got ‘distributed’ and empowered people at various levels to make, own and execute context-specific decisions - demonstrating a rare, but inspiring model of collective action.

A masterclass of adaptive governance and agile management, this book will be essential reading for management and health professionals, public administrators, business leaders, managers who want to lead successful teams as well as those generally interested in how policy processes work in real time.

Rajesh Chandwani is Associate Professor at IIM Ahmedabad. Trained as a paediatrician, he researches healthcare Human Resource Management, service quality, IT-enabled delivery, and affordable care. Focusing on pedagogical innovations, he enjoys making films on social issues; his organ donation documentary won Best Documentary at the 71st National Film Awards.

Vinita Sindhwani Satija, Senior Consultant in Public Health, is affiliated with IIM Ahmedabad. With a background in psychology, she works across mental health, nutrition, hospital safety, and health workforce development. She collaborates with civil society and academia to advance holistic, sustainable solutions in public health.

Ranjan Kumar Ghosh is an Associate Professor at IIM Ahmedabad. He works across diverse areas of public policy and societal development management and partners with government/s, business leaders and civil society to advance the cause of sustainable production and healthy consumption.