An international travelling exhibition “Vaccines Injecting Hope” was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Balram Bhargava, Padma Shri awardee and former Director General of ICMR, at Science City, Kolkata.

The event was graced by Prof. Partha P. Majumder, National Science Chair (Scientific Excellence), Government of India; Dr. Roger Highfield, Director, Science, Science Museums Group, London; Dr. Kunal Sarkar, Senior Vice Chairman, Director and Head of Cardiac Surgery, Medica Super specialty Hospital; Dr. Madhumita Roy, Head and Senior Scientific Officer, Dept. of Environmental Carcinogenesis & Toxicology, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata; Dr. Debanjan Chakrabarti, Director, British Council, East and Northeast India, Mr. A. D. Choudhury, DG, NCSM; Mr. Samarendra Kumar, DDG, NCSM, and Mr. Anurag Kumar, Director, Science City, Kolkata.

Huge numbers of people died when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the unprepared world in January 2021 with terrible speed and ferocity. However, in contrast to these previous outbreaks, the world was ready to come up with a quick defence against this new, virulent disease. In contrast to vaccines that take decades to develop, scientists worldwide were able to create multiple effective vaccine versions within a year of their introduction by employing cutting-edge methods that had not yet been used. The virus was overwhelmed, if not completely vanquished. Curated by NCSM and the UK’s Science Museum Group, this exhibition narrates the development of a contemporary vaccine and all of its facets, including its human side.

The exhibition has different sections on ‘The Arrival of New Virus’, ‘Designing a New Vaccine’, ‘Trials, Results and Approvals’, ‘Scaling Up and Mass Production’, ‘Vaccine Rollout’, and ‘Living with COVID’.

It describes the global search for novel approaches to create vaccines at the speed of a pandemic and takes a more comprehensive look at vaccinations from both a historical and modern perspective. The exhibition documented the scientific principles that underpin the development and effectiveness of vaccines while documenting the work that goes on behind the scenes as they are rapidly developed, produced, transported, and delivered. The exhibition features “Through The Lens,” a piece of art commissioned by the British Council that was produced by London-based playwright Nigel Townsend and Delhi-based Indian sculptor Sushank Kumar. In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the artwork aims to examine our relationship with vaccination both historically and currently.

The exhibition has been developed by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) in collaboration with the Science Museum, London, and with support from Wellcome, UK; ICMR, India; NIV, Pune; Serum Institute of India; CSIR; AIIMS; NIBMG, Kalyani; and various other research and scientific organisations.

 Students from a variety of Kolkata schools attended the exhibition and took part in the inaugural program.

Priyanka Dutta