India Needs Rapid Vaccination To Stop Rise Of Covid-19 Cases: Here's How

It¡¯s happening all over again.

The daily active Covid-19 cases in India have gone through the roof, crossing the 1 lakh mark for the first time on Monday (April 5). Maharashtra, which recorded more than half of fresh infections, has imposed night curfew and lockdown during the weekends. The government said that ten districts account for 50 per cent of the total active caseload of the country--eight out of which are in Maharashtra.

TOI

In the past one month, India¡¯s active Covid-19 caseload has exploded from 18,327 to a staggering 1,03,558. The current weekly average of 5,48,625 fresh coronavirus cases (March 29-April 4) is the highest since September 28-October 4 (when the count was 5.5 lakh). Maharashtra has been on the same course, growing 5.5 times in a month from 10,216 to 57,074 daily active cases.

ALSO READ: Maharashtra Curfew And Weekend Lockdown: What's Allowed Vs Banned

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India¡¯s ambitious vaccination drive

The vaccination drive, which was launched in the country on January 16, was initially limited to healthcare workers and frontline staff; from March 1st, the eligibility criteria was expanded to include people over 60.

And as the second wave of the pandemic gains momentum, the government announced that as of April 1st, everyone over the age of 45 is eligible to receive a vaccine jab. It also mandated that all public and private vaccination centres stay open every day.

Seventy-nine days into the launch, India has managed to administer around 79 million doses of the vaccine. And the country really needs to get its skates on if it is to meet its ambitious target to inoculate 300 million people, or nearly one quarter of the population, by July.

India's Covid-19 vaccination needs to accelerate fast

Currently, it¡¯s doing about 3 million doses per day, close to that being administered by the United States. And while it may be the world¡¯s largest vaccination drive, experts believe that India should be giving 10 million shots daily. That¡¯s because, the total vaccinations relative to India¡¯s population of 1.3 billion still remains relatively low.

Note: in the above table, a vaccinated person refers to someone who has received at least one dose of a vaccine, and a fully vaccinated person has received all required doses of a vaccine.

According to data compiled by the University of Oxford, roughly 5 per cent of India¡¯s population have jabbed for at least one dose of the vaccine, while only about 1 per cent of them have been fully inoculated against the deadly coronavirus. On the other hand, more than 55 per cent of Israel¡¯s population have been fully vaccinated.

India¡¯s 5.6 vaccine shots per 100 people is about 20 times less than that being administered in Israel; 15 times less than UAE; and 10 times less than the UK. Experts believe that the uptake has been slow because of initial hesitation or vaccine skepticism.

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Targeted vaccination to stop Covid-19 second wave

But India is one of the world¡¯s largest vaccine manufacturers, and doesn¡¯t face supply constraints like other countries. That¡¯s a silver living in inoculating a sizable population to contain this new wave. And although the government denied imposing any ban on the export of Covid-19 vaccines, the External Affairs Ministry asserted that the ¡°external supplies would be done keeping in mind our domestic requirements¡±.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and National Institute Of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) joint research has recommended that India should vaccinate all people aged 18 and above in 130 districts, which were identified as red zones during the first wave of the pandemic in the country.

Reuters

The findings estimated that the government will need six to seven months to vaccinate the remaining population of around 490 million people above 18 years (outside these 130 districts) at the rate of 2.5 million per day.

The paper also recommended that India needs to open all delivery channels including 24/7 vaccination centres, non-Ayushman Bharat hospitals and clinics as well as pharmacies which have reliable capacity and capability.

Rapid vaccination will not only reduce the peak cases but will significantly arrest the growth of disease, the report added. On top of that, the early lessons of the pandemic from 2020 shouldn't be forgotten -- it's important to wash your hands with soap or sanitizer whenever you're at risk of contamination, wearing face mask and social distancing is critical to cut down chances of catching Covid-19, whenever you leave your home bubble.