100 crore COVID-19 Vaccine Doses

Why in news?

India completed 100 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines on 21 October 2021, in about 9 months since the vaccination drive began.

Why is it laudable?

This is the fastest rate of vaccination, possibly anywhere in the world.
China has administered almost twice the number of doses to its citizens but it had also started out much earlier than anyone else.
India began only in mid-January 2021, with a limited supply of vaccines.
The shortage of vaccines was felt most acutely during the devastating second wave, the worst phase of the pandemic.
The challenge was handled with contributions of vaccine manufacturers and the wide network of healthcare workers.
Crossing the one-billion mark also became possible as India stopped the export of vaccines, impacting most low- and middle-income countries.

Adult population

The bigger task is to vaccinate the entire adult population of about 94 crore.
But in this goal, India has just crossed the halfway mark.
Even as vaccine supply is increasing, the pace of the vaccination drive has to be speeded up to meet the objective.
Efforts should be directed at increasing the pace of second dose vaccination.

Children

If the entire population of about 135 crore is taken into account, then an even smaller fraction of the job has been completed.
Vaccines for people under the age of 18 years are just being approved, and there is a long way to go.

Booster doses

As of now, India looks all set to vaccinate about 70-80% of its adult population by the end of 2021.
But by that time, the group that received their vaccine in January and February might find its immunity waning.
India thus has to remain open to the possibility of providing booster doses from sometime in 2022.
The discussion on booster doses in India, their frequency, timing, etc is yet to begin.

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