Data | India falls short of December 31 vaccination target
The Hindu
Data show that while States such as Gujarat and Karnataka are just days away from achieving their targets, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are still months away
In May 2021, former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had said adults in India would be fully vaccinated by December. In the same month, the Supreme Court that “on vaccination, as per our estimate, from the domestic market and Sputnik V, we expect the entire eligible population to get vaccinated by the end of this year”. In July 2021, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar had stated in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that “it is expected that eligible beneficiaries aged 18 years and above will be vaccinated by December 2021”. In the same month, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had reiterated this in another reply in the Lok Sabha. However, by December 31, 89.4% of adults had received their first dose and 64.2% had been fully vaccinated. The poor in May (when those aged 18 and above were allowed to get vaccinated) and a drop in pace in October and November have hurt India’s progress. Data show that while States such as Gujarat and Karnataka are just days away from achieving their targets, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are still months away even if they continue vaccination at their highest daily rate.
The graph depicts the average daily doses administered every month and the required rate at the end of each month to fully vaccinate adults by December 31, 2021. The drop in vaccination pace in October and November caused the required rate to surge.