Picture This: India’s Covid vaccinations take a dive
India started phase 4 of its Covid-19 vaccination program on May 1, 2021 with all adult Indians eligible to get vaccinated. This opened vaccinations to an estimated 59 crore Indians in the 18-45 year age group.
The chart above depicts the daily count of Covid vaccinations in India and also breaks them into four phases. The first phase began on January 16, 2021 and saw vaccines administered to healthcare workers and other frontline workers. Phase 2 of the vaccination program made all those above the age of 60 or 45 but with comorbidities eligible for vaccination. This phase started on March 1, 2021. In phase 3, all Indians who were 45 years or older became eligible for receiving vaccines.
3.43 million vaccine doses were administered on March 22, 2021. This was the highest daily vaccination count achieved in the second phase. In the third phase, India saw the peak of daily vaccinations on April 2, 2021 with 4.26 million doses administered in a single day. Since then the number of vaccinations has been on a declining trend, as can be seen in the graph above.
Contrary to expectations, India has seen its daily vaccinations decline sharply in phase 4. India vaccinated only 1.96 million people on May 5, 2021. This slowdown has come at a time when the daily count of new Covid-19 cases is still on the rise and a third wave of the pandemic is being called a certainty by the scientific advisor to the PM. The reason for this slowdown in vaccinations is a scarcity of vaccines.
For a more detailed analysis of where India’s Covid vaccination program has fallen short, read this data narrative published by CEDA earlier.
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