India will administer 67 crore Covid vaccines before September: Ministry of Finance report

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.

India has now crossed the 35-crore mark in its cumulative Covid vaccination coverage with 21% of the population covered under 1st dose and 4.6% of the population fully vaccinated, it said.

“At the current inoculation pace, it is estimated that India will administer over 67 crore doses before the festive season begins in September. A significant coverage by the vaccine could provide a crucial boost for domestic demand,” the report said.

It, however, said that certain states including Uttar Pradesh need to ramp up the vaccination drive.

“An analysis of the state-wise proportion of population vaccinated relative to its share in total population indicates that Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Jharkhand need to ramp up their vaccination drive. Vaccination remains the key guard against any prospective future waves and the coverage of the population needs to be enhanced across all states,” it said.

The report also said that resilient tax collection of the central government and sustained momentum in capital expenditure, particularly in the road and rail sector augurs well for continued economic recovery driven by capital expenditures.

It said the recently announced economic relief package was expected to further oil the wheels of the capital expenditure cycle via implementation of the production-linked incentive scheme and streamlining of processes for public-private partnership projects and asset monetisation.

Last month, the government had announced eight economic measures amounting to Rs 6.29 lakh crore to provide relief to individuals and businesses reeling under the impact of the second wave of the pandemic.

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