Covid-19 vaccine: Half of target population to get first dose within a week

In a week's time, India may vaccinate half of its target population, providing them with a degree of protection against Covid-19, with the hope that such a large-scale inoculation drive will minimise the threats of a ferocious third wave.

As on Tuesday, more than 43.5 crore received the first dose, of which more than 88 lakh received it on Monday in a record-breaking vaccination campaign.

Going by the current trend of 50 lakh daily Covid shots, another four crore Indians may receive their first dose within the next seven days, taking the number of people receiving the first shot to over 47 crore. India plans to vaccinate 94.47 crore people above 18 years.

“The pace of the scale-up of vaccination coverage is commendable. But the proportion of the population that is fully vaccinated across age groups will determine the transmission dynamics,” said Oommen John, senior research fellow at the George Institute for Global Health.

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With the administration of more than 88.13 lakh doses on Monday, the cumulative vaccination coverage has increased to 55.47 crore. This translates to 46% of all adult Indians receiving the first dose while 13% have received both doses of vaccine and are protected against Covid-19, the Union Health Ministry said in a statement. More than 53 lakh doses were administered on Tuesday.

“The data is showing that a single dose of vaccine works. The global thinking is that we should give one dose of vaccine to everybody around the world before we think of the second dose. Yes, it's important to get the second dose, particularly those who are vulnerable. But for the general population, even one dose offers good protection,” Gagandeep Kang, eminent virologist and a professor at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, told DH in an interview last month.

The previous highest inoculation drive was recorded on June 21, when more than 81 lakh shots were administered. But barring two days, India’s vaccination campaign has never crossed the 80-lakh mark, which, according to the experts, is essential if India has to vaccinate its entire target population by the end of 2021.

While 12 crore doses were made available to the states in July, government officials said the availability will increase to 15 crore in August. Though the state-wise availability of vaccine data is not available, sources said the vaccine quota for Kerala and Punjab was enhanced after the two chief ministers met Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

The government is yet to take a decision on vaccinating children in the 12-18 age group. "Ensuring that children are also vaccinated in a time-sensitive manner is critical," John said.