NEW DELHI: The gover nment plans to maximise coverage of first dose of Covid vaccination by September-October to ensure a considerable adult population is fully vaccinated, or has recieved at least one dose, by end of this year.
With increased pace of vaccination and improved supplies, the government is expecting some states to cover a significant proportion of the adult population with one dose by October itself. Coverage in states like UP and Tamil Nadu may take longer.
Since Covishield — which accounts for 87% of the total inoculations so far —is administered with a gap of at least 84 days or 12 weeks, it is likely that full vaccination of eligible population will roll over to next year, an official said. The rate of vaccination, that was 57 lakh a day in August, is expected to go up but may also prove a challenge in terms of meeting target of full vaccination of eligible adult population by year end.
At present, around 52% of the 94 crore adult population is covered with at least one dose of anti-Covid jabs. The coverage of second dose is lower at 15% of the eligible population. Around 49 crore of the shots delivered are first dose jabs. A total of over 63.9 crore doses have been administered so far.
However, officials say, the full vaccination picture will change once a significant proportion of the adult population receives their first dose. Currently, almost 70% of inoculations are first dose but from October onwards— once majority of eligible population would have received the initial shot the proportion of second dose is expected to increase.
The government is also expecting the second dose coverage to expand faster with improved supplies, particularly that of Covaxin — which also has a relatively smaller gap of four to six weeks between two doses. Some states like Kerala and MP that have already covered a significant proportion of eligible adult population with first dose and are likely to cover the targeted population by September itself. Smaller states and UTs are also expected to achieve a substantial coverage of the first dose by October.
The Centre is also mindful that 100% coverage may not be possible as some people will continue to be hesitant.
