Data | What explains India’s poor COVID-19 booster coverage

The fact that a significant share of health workers chose not to get the booster dose hints at complacency

In the 24 hours ending at 10 a.m. on Monday, India recorded more than 1,800 new COVID-19 cases — twice the number recorded a week ago. This is the third spike since the Omicron wave in January 2022. Each rise is accompanied by a discussion on hastening the administration of booster doses, which were made available in January 2022.

While there is a jump in cases, movement restrictions and mask mandates have disappeared. Also, since the first two vaccine shots were administered to the population over a year ago, their efficacy would have waned by now. This is why the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended that people should be up to date with their booster shots. However, even though booster doses have been available for the past 63 weeks, only 16% of the Indian population has taken them.

Chart 1 shows the % share of India’s population that has been administered one dose, two doses, and the precautionary/booster dose. In the first 63 weeks after the first dose was introduced, 70% of the population was partially vaccinated. In the first 63 weeks after the second dose was introduced, 60% were fully vaccinated. But the share that has received the precautionary doses is only 16%. The booster dose coverage might have been even lower if not for a 75-day-long special booster drive.

Chart 1

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The response to booster doses has been slow globally. The Philippines has given a booster dose to just 18.8% of its population, similar to India. However, other countries which saw disastrous waves have notably higher booster rates. Brazil, for example, has administered booster doses to 58.7% of its population. Of the 100 nations for which booster coverage data was available, India is ranked 68. Nepal (30%), Bangladesh (39.4%), and Brazil (58.7%) are some of the notable countries which are ranked above India, whereas South Africa (7.2%) and Russia (14.1%) are among those ranked below India (Chart 2).

Chart 2