Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in October 2020 that India is expected to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses and cover approximately 200-250 million people by July 2021. If India continues to vaccinate at the current pace, it will have administered just 60 million doses by July 31, 2021 — about 15% of the intended target.
To meet the target, India needs to administer 2.44 million doses a day in the remaining days, against just 0.3 million doses a day at present. However, 40 days into the campaign, the pace of vaccination is yet to pick up, unlike in most other nations with a high burden.
Need for speed
The graph shows India’s vaccination curve:
Data | India's slow vaccination pace chart 1
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Also read: Vaccine inequities: The Hindu Editorial on need to vaccinate all above 45
Rapid strides
The graphs show the vaccination curves of the U.S. and the U.K.
The U.S. aims to administer 100 million doses by the 100th day of President Joe Biden’s term (April 30). At the current pace of 0.9 million doses a day, the U.S. will reach the target 26 days in advance.
Data | India's slow vaccination pace chart 2
The U.K. aims to vaccinate 32 million people by April 15. At the current pace of 0.23 million people per day, it will have reached 92.8% of the target by that date.
Data | India's slow vaccination pace chart 3
India's slow pace
The table shows the doses administered per 100 people among select nations at the end of 10 days (T1), 20 days (T2), and so on, from the first day of vaccination. India administered 0.9 doses per 100 people by the end of T4. While many countries increased the pace after the initial days, India’s vaccination rate remained mostly constant for all periods.
Data | India's slow vaccination pace chart 4
Source: PIB, Our World in Data
