At current rate of Covid-19 vaccination, India will take 3.5 years to reach herd immunity

Based on the experience of over 100 days of vaccination, experts say India is in for a long haul. In case the pace of vaccination against coronavirus doesn’t shoot up drastically and more vaccine candidates are not included, India could take another 3.5 years to inoculate 70 per cent of its population.

The public, pummelled by the pandemic and consequent socio-economic despair, is being forced to pick from three versions about the Covid-19 vaccination drive. One from the central government with tall claims and heap of statistics, second from the chief ministers firing loud SOS signals of shortages and the third on the CoWin app — the gateway, which is failing to provide the vaccine. The assessment by experts from the experience of over 100 days of vaccination is that India is in for a long haul. In case the pace of vaccination against coronavirus doesn’t shoot up drastically and more vaccine candidates are not included, India could take another 3.5 years at the “current rate of lethargy” to inoculate 70 per cent of its entire population, a threshold required to achieve herd immunity.