Statsguru: Where does India stand on Covid booster shots as cases rise

A fortnight ago, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pawar informed the Parliament that 40 million people in the country were unvaccinated for Covid-19. For the 18-plus age group, 90 per cent of the population was fully vaccinated, while among 15-17-year-olds, over two-thirds had received the second dose (chart 1). 

However, this has not been able to stop fresh infections in the country. While Covid-19 daily infections in India had dropped below the 10,000 mark, they have started rising again (chart 2).

The reasons for this could be waning immunity, the emergence of new variants, and low booster dose administration. Only 12.6 per cent of the eligible population in the country had received a booster dose until July 30 (chart 3). 

The eligible population is calculated by estimating the number of people who had received the second dose at least six months ago. Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh had administered the booster dose to a fifth of their population, whereas Delhi had achieved 17.5 per cent coverage, followed by Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal (chart 4). 

Although the pace has picked up since July 15, analysis shows it would not be enough to administer the booster dose to the eligible population by September 29— the deadline for free booster dose administration set by the government.

The government had opened up booster/precautionary dose administration for the 18-plus age group on April 10, but on July 13 it announced free administration of boosters for 75 days starting July 15 to commemorate 75 years of Independence. 

Analysis shows that by September 29, the country will cover 28.6 per cent of the eligible population of 796 million who will be due for the booster dose. Chhattisgarh would have administered the precautionary dose to 68.2 per cent of people (chart 5). 

If the pace of vaccination is doubled to 5 million daily, India will cover 400 million people by September 29. The pace would have to be increased to over 10 million doses daily if the government plans to cover all individuals with the booster shot by September 29 (chart 6).
 

StatsGuru is a weekly feature. Every Monday, Business Standard guides you through the numbers you need to know to make sense of the headlines