SHOTS IN THE DARK

EVEN AFTER A BELATED SCRAMBLE FOR MORE DOSES, INDIA’S VACCINE PROGRAMME FACES A DESPERATE SUPPLY SHORTAGE. FEARFUL IN THE WAKE OF A RAMPAGING SECOND WAVE, EVERYONE NOW WANTS IT, BUT THERE ARE JUST NOT ENOUGH DOSES TO GO AROUND

- P.B. JAYAKUMAR

India’s Covid-19 vaccine programme has gone off-kilter, especially after the government decided to throw it open to those between 18 and 45 years of age. Under the new Liberalised Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccine Strategy, as the central government policy is called, there has been a huge surge in demand for vaccines since May 1, when people in the 18-45 years bracket became eligible for shots. It was nearly 680-700 million doses for over 340 million people above 45, plus another 600 million doses for Phases I and II. Now it has increased to nearly one billion doses, just for the first dose for all eligible. India requires nearly 2.2 billion doses (of the two-dose vaccines) for its adult population and possibly another billion if it decides to vaccinate young children at some point.

The government boasts it has already inoculated 134.4 million people (as of May 9, but mind you: only the first shot), which is barely 10 per cent of India’s 1.36 billion-plus population; the percentage of fully vaccinated people is just 2.63 per cent (or 35.8 million). In comparison, the US and UK have fully vaccinated 36 and 27 per cent of their population, respectively. India will fall short even of its initial goal of covering 300 million people by August unless it is able to double its current average of 1.7 million doses per day. Going by the current rate, it will require three years to inoculate India’s entire adult population.