Vaccination Drive Must Pick Up Pace Again
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-10-24 07:02:33
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
Jabbing 100 crore people is not a small feat. India is justifiably proud of the fact. But the job is not done yet. As per data, just 70 percent of the adult population has been administered the first dose and about 38 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated. Given Indiaâs population density and the habit of the people to indulge in crowding and not following Covid protocols in public places, the vaccination numbers are too low to prevent a third wave if the guard is let down. As more contagious mutations are being discovered, Indians cannot let their guard down, not even for festivals and the vaccination drive must be strengthened.
Just before the festival season (October to December), India achieved a scorching pace of vaccination by jabbing nearly 25 crore people in September. The easing of vaccine supplies and the concerted efforts of the Centre and the states were instrumental in this. But October has shown that we are prone to laxity, as just 11 crore doses have been administered till the 21st of the month. Even as the need is to give the first dose to 100 percent of the adult population by October and then race to fully vaccinate at least 80 percent of the population in the next two months, the slackening of the vaccination drive is criminal, to say the least.
The Centre has advised the states to draw up district-wise plan to vaccinate people. That would be a step in the right direction. India was never constrained due to infrastructure. We have centres and trained professionals to jab people and administering two crore doses per day is not a problem. With vaccines now freely available, supply is also not a constraint. But somehow, the drive has gone slow. It was reported that the states are sitting on more than 10 crore doses. This will not do. If second dose recipients are not coming forward to get jabbed, we have to think of ways to get them to the centres, failing which a door-to-door campaign must be started. They cannot be allowed to endanger the safety of other citizens.
The adult population must be fully vaccinated as fast as possible. Simultaneously, the vaccine for children must also be fast-tracked and made available by November so that children can be vaccinated and educational institutions can reopen. With the economy showing fair signs of recovering, the vaccination programme must be completed within time to give further impetus to the recovery. Prime Minister Modi, in his interaction with vaccine manufacturers, has said that best practices adopted during the pandemic must be standardized. This is essential to keep the supply of vaccines going, not only for India but also for India to supply to WHO-managed vaccination drives and to disadvantaged nations, many of whom have not even vaccinated 10 percent of their population as they do not have access to vaccines.
