Vax milestone and a K-shaped problem

Lower-income groups will be far more vulnerable in the Third Wave, whenever that arrives

One of the pandemic’s consequences is the acceleration of economic disparity. The design of India’s vaccination policy will further accentuate this. Vaccine penetration is much higher in upper-income deciles. 

Out of India’s population of about 1.3 billion, 78 per cent, or just over 1 billion, are adults eligible for vaccination. Around 75 per cent of the eligible —say, 750 million — are officially reckoned to have received at least one dose, which means 250 million are unprotected. 

The official claim is that “nearly” 30 per cent of the eligible are double-jabbed. This leads to a discrepancy of about 50 million between the