Only 8 states have fully vaccinated more than 10% of their populations

Six months into the Covid-19 vaccination programme, only eight states have inoculated more than 10% of their target populations with two doses of the vaccine whereas Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand gave both doses to less than 5% of their targeted individuals.

Only two large states -- Kerala (13.2%) and Gujarat (13.07%) -- are among the eight top performers as the rest are smaller and less populous Himachal Pradesh (14.66%), Uttarakhand (10.35%), Delhi (12.57%), Tripura (22.85%), Sikkim (23.6%) and Arunachal Pradesh (10.62%).

A DH analysis of the Covid-19 vaccination records of every state shows most of them have given at least one shot to the target groups, but they are far short when it comes to fully vaccinate a resident with two doses.

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For instance, Himachal Pradesh administered the first shot to more than 62% of its target population of 54.79 lakh, but only 14.66% received both shots. In Karnataka, with a target population of 4.72 crore, the corresponding figures are 43.2% and 9.36% respectively.

Karnataka is among the four states and union territories – the other three being Goa, Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir – that have vaccinated more than 9% of their target residents with two doses.

“Recent vaccine effectiveness studies from India have shown that the risk reduction is associated with being fully vaccinated. Evidence of surges in Covid-19 cases in countries with low vaccine coverage is a worrying development as variants of concern like Delta are fuelling such surges,” Oommen John, a senior public health researcher at the George Institute for Global Health told DH.

“With low levels of coverage, several states are at high risk for an impending surge in cases. Preparing the health systems in parallel while increasing the vaccine availability will be critical,” he noted.

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The majority of the states currently face a shortage in Covid-19 vaccine supplies, compelling them to shut down many vaccination centres.

In the first eight days of July, the average daily vaccination stands at about 41 lakh doses, which is 23 lakh doses less than the average daily shots administered in the last week of June after the introduction of the new regime under which the Centre procures 75% of the vaccines from the manufacturers and distributes them to the states.

Out of the eight days, the daily vaccination count crossed the 65 lakh mark only once. The numbers are in the range of 30 lakh plus in the last three days.

A Health Ministry official said the states had been advised to plan their jab sessions based on the availability of vaccines. Advance information on vaccine availability has been made available to the states and Union Territories.

“Since the vaccines are biological products, the process of manufacturing takes time. Once produced, the vaccines are tested for quality and safety. Thus, the manufacturing process and production of vaccines take time and do not translate into immediate supply,” the ministry said in a statement.

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