Covid-19 Vaccine Matters: Centre orders more jabs as experts warn of third wave

India is unlikely to meet its target of administering 51.6 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses by July end

In what has been its largest procurement, India has ordered 66 crore vaccine doses for August-December as state authorities and health experts warned that shortages could leave millions vulnerable if coronavirus infections surge again. The central government aims to inoculate all of the country's estimated 95 crore adults by December, a target health experts have said is ambitious as only 8 per cent of that number is currently vaccinated with the mandatory two doses.

A Finance Ministry report on Friday estimated that over 67 crore Covid vaccine doses will be administered before the festive season beginning September and said the emergence of a third wave could be significantly buffered by expanding vaccination and a quick bridging of healthcare infrastructure gaps in rural and urban areas. However, The Union Health Ministry is unlikely to meet its target of administering 51.6 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses by July end as it would require bridging a large supply gap within the next 14 days.

Congress has attacked the Centre over the distribution and shortage of Covid-19 vaccines. Jairam Ramesh alleged partisanship in the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine among states and accused the prime minister of dividing them into those governed by the BJP and those by others. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the central government, saying the number of ministers has increased but not Covid vaccines. He also shared a chart of the average vaccinations per day, which indicated the government was falling short of the target to vaccinate all adults by December 2021.

Amid these allegations and jibes, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said "useless"' statements are being made only to create panic among the people, and asserted that states know very well when and in what quantity they will get the doses. In a series of tweets, Mandaviya said the availability of vaccines can be better understood by an "actual analysis of the facts". He blamed the states for “mismanagement” in the Covid-19 inoculation drive and long queues at the vaccination centres, without explaining why the states are not being given more doses despite repeated requests.

Even as India struggles to vaccinate a majority of the population with the required two doses, evidence suggests that a third dose (or "booster shot") may be required to contain the still-active pandemic. An ongoing study at Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research suggests that about 15 per cent to 20 per cent of people vaccinated with two doses would definitely require a booster shot.

Pfizer-BioNTech too pushed for booster doses, however, experts felt that more data was needed and the call for booster doses was premature. Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE said last week that they will ask US and European regulators within weeks to authorise a booster dose due to an increased risk of infection after six months.

India's full rollout of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine will have to be put on hold until the Russian producer provides equal quantities of its two differing doses, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd said on Monday. Dr Reddy's had received about 30 lakh first doses by June 1 and about 3.6 lakh doses of the second by early this month, the company and the Indian government have said.

In what has been an encouraging development, a new study on an experimental intranasal Covid-19 vaccine showed that it protected mice from fatal doses of SARS-CoV-2 by creating antibodies in them and also blocked animal-to-animal transmission of the Covid-19 virus.

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