As many as 17 states and union territories have vaccinated 25% of their population with at least a single shot as India administered nearly 60 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses on Thursday.
While this is the fourth straight day of giving more than 50 lakh shots, the last three days were nowhere close to the record-breaking Monday when nearly 91 lakh jabs were given. The shortfall was more than 30% in each of the next three days when compared to Monday.
But due to an overall increase in vaccination, this week compared to the low-vaccination days of May, as many as 17 states and UTs including Karnataka have now managed to inoculate at least a quarter of their population with a single shot. The other large state in this list is Gujarat.
The remaining 23 states include smaller hilly states, northeastern states, union territories and the national capital of Delhi. On the flip side are Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which are at the bottom with only 10% of their population receiving a single dose. The national average is under 20%.
“It is important that the vaccination situation improves in every state so as to prevent the human toll from current and future waves of Covid-19 pandemic. Unequal geographic uptake of vaccines would also potentially create an unequal distribution of Covid-19 disease burden across states,” health economist Rijo John, a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode told DH.
India’s cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage now stands at 31 crore or almost one-third of its target population of 95 crore. Nearly 18% of the population received a single dose and 4% got both the shots.
As of Thursday, close to 1.9 crore unutilised doses are available with the states. In addition, more than 21 lakh vaccine doses are in the pipeline and will be received by the states within the next 3 days, the Union Health Ministry said, assuring a steady supply.
Check out DH latest videos: