COVID-19 vaccines alarmingly low
Only about 47% in India have received their second dose of the vaccines so far, per WHO records
Source - GoI
Amid a sharp spike in new Covid-19 cases across India, vaccine availability has become a concern once again. New cases per day are close to 10,000 as of date, and could quickly reach the six-digit mark as seen in 2021, especially in light of the laxity in use of masks and other preventive measures.
Nationwide Covid-19 vaccination started on 16 January 2021, which many believed was too late – there were already about 1 crore positive cases and 1.5 lakh deaths by then, according to WHO (varies vs GoI, see charts for GoI data). The new phase of universalization of Covid-19 vaccination started from 21 June 2021, which again was too late (nearly 3 crore cases and 3.8 lakh deaths).
As of 21 June 2022, according to the government, only about 12.53 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses are available with the states/UTs. This is about 12% of the number of first doses administered so far. Further, only about 47% have received their second dose of the vaccines so far (about 80% per GoI), even as those requiring the first dose are still trickling in.
The government said it is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of Covid-19 vaccination throughout the country. But it and the state governments clearly need to ramp up their efforts. The need of the hour is to push medicines that could cure Covid-19 into the market quickly.
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