As of March 17, more than 6.5 million people have been fully vaccinated in India, with both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. And that’s a meagre 0.47 per cent of the population.

As India braces itself for the second wave of the coronavirus infection, the country’s vaccination drive – touted as #LargestVaccinationDrive – assumes greater significance. The first phase of the vaccination drive, which began on January 16, 2021, was restricted to healthcare and frontline workers, covering nearly 30 million people. The second phase, which started on March 1, is covering high-risk population groups – people aged over 60 years, and those over 45 with comorbidities.

HealthLEADS looks at the numbers behind India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive:

While the active caseload shot up from 133,079 on February 11, to 249,197 on March 17, the total administered vaccination shots have struggled to keep up – despite a 150% surge in vaccination numbers this month. So far, over 37 million doses have been administered. The start of the second phase, along with the fact that many people are receiving their second dose, has meant that nearly 60 per cent of total doses have been administered in the first 17 days of March alone.

Incidentally, seven states – Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala and Karnataka – make up for over half of the country’s total administered doses.

Total dose count, however, may not be a true indicator of vaccine coverage, as it does not reflect the number of people who have received both doses. (Immunity starts to truly develop only after the second dose.) Data indicates that, as of March 17, more than 6.5 million people have been fully vaccinated in India, with both doses – a meagre 0.47 per cent of the population. Vaccination coverage, per 100,000 population, remains low among the worst-hit states.

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Covishield vs Covaxin

Of the two vaccines currently in public use, Covishield has been deployed on a larger scale than Covaxin, owing to the latter’s initial approval in “public trial mode”. This skewness is expected to balance off in the coming weeks, as Government authorities have now allowed Covaxin to be deployed on full throttle.

India also has two more vaccines on order – Novavax and Sputnik V. 100 million doses of the latter have already been procured by India and it plans to produce 300 million more vaccines as a part of a deal with Russia. Pending approvals, numbers indicate that Sputnik V could be India’s third vaccine, strengthening the country’s war on COVID-19.

Currently, in its second phase, India’s vaccination drive is still restricted to target groups. Rapid scaling up of vaccinations to include en masse rollouts for the young and healthy is the need of the hour to counter the impending second wave threat.

Author

Bhargavi Saikia

Bhargavi works as a Data Analyst at HealthLEADS, specialising in data cleaning, analysis and visualisation. With a keen eye for patterns and a penchant for clarity, Bhargavi brings data to life, bridging the gap between raw data and storytelling.
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