Among major districts, Chennai leads in second-dose Covid-19 vaccine coverage

India’s overall vaccination drive is heavily skewed towards first doses

As India finds its footing after a ferocious second Covid-19 wave, the country must begin to brace itself for a potential third wave in a matter of months, according to health experts. Vaccination has been hailed as the most formidable tool to ward off cases of serious infection that might see a spike in the country’s death toll. However, efforts to ramp up vaccination across the country have reflected in terms of hard data.

India has lagged other countries in terms of percentage of persons vaccinated despite administering the greatest number of doses in absolute terms, grappling with its substantially larger population. When it comes to the second dose and full vaccination, India has vaccinated less than 4 per cent of its population so far.

Among major districts, Chennai, Kolkata and Gurugram lead the charge in terms of second-dose coverage. Chennai has fully vaccinated nearly 13 per cent of its population, while Kolkata and Gurugram trail closely behind, having given jabs to 12 per cent and 11.8 per cent of their respective populations. Gurugram also has the highest single-dose coverage at close to 60 per cent, owing largely to a high number of private vaccine centres.

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Trivandrum and Delhi have vaccinated nearly 9 per cent of their citizens with two doses, though Delhi’s population is about five times larger. In Bengaluru (comprising Bengaluru Urban and BBMP), 7.8 per cent of people have taken two jabs.

Mumbai fares similarly to Delhi in terms of first-dose coverage of about 28 per cent, but its second-dose numbers are much lower at 6.8 per cent. However, Gujarat’s Ahmedabad has had a particularly poor showing regarding second-dose administration with a measly 1.8 per cent, faring little better on the first-dose front with numbers below 10 per cent.

Policymakers in the country have clearly shifted their strategy towards inoculating as many people as possible with a single dose of the vaccine, believing the strategy would provide at least some degree of protection against the disease. However, with the emergence of newer, more infectious variants, several medical experts have advised that full cover was the need of the hour and single doses may not be enough to shield people against more virulent strains.