Although the official website of the Union Health Ministry on Sunday showed India’s Covid vaccination count as 1,10,85,173 which apparently implies something quite big, when expressed in percentage over certain heads particularly the one relating to healthcare workers, there is a backlog of nearly 35%. Moreover, on an overall basis, the above 1.1 crore figure is not even 1 % of the targeted population (over and above the 30 crore targeted group under Phase-I) who are supposed to be inoculated in the total Covid vaccination process. The current slow pace is not a good sign as per various health experts, since in the long run it may delay the prime target of maximum vaccination within a tight timeline.
As per Health Ministry’s figures released on Saturday, till 6pm 6.35 million of more than 9.6 million eligible healthcare workers (HCWs) have received their first doses of Covid-19 vaccine which means that in terms of percentage, almost 35% of them have missed the first dose either due to declining or failing to turn up or for reasons whatsoever. Just as it happened in Covid tests, performance has varied state-wise. While 12 states/UT have vaccinated more than 75% of the registered HCWs for the first dose namely Bihar, Tripura, Odisha, Lakshadweep, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, there are 7 states/UTs who have reported less than 50% coverage namely Ladakh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, Nagaland and Puducherry. Arunachal Pradesh till Saturday vaccinated 23691 (1st dose 19666+ 2nd dose 4025) targeted beneficiaries falling under the first phase and it would have been better if the percentage covered was clearly defined in the data shared. Percentage-wise sharing of vaccination coverage data of each state/UT in the daily COVID bulletin would go a long in reflecting the latest position that in turn would help in drawing corrective measures. It can also be observed that while the official COVID data on cases, deaths and tests have been per-million-figures-centric or in simple words carried  the respective percentages, in terms of vaccination figures there is an emphasis on absolute figures which hardly mirrors the actual progress graph. This is rather incomprehensible and not the ideal methodology when the need for vaccinating fast is increasingly felt. Speed must be picked up across the country and the current daily doses of vaccination which is less than 4.5 lakh must be increased manifold within the next few weeks. It’s simple logic that effects of the backlog in the first phase will spill over to the next rounds when the most challenging part awaits, which is covering the general segment of the population, which is not desirable.
Comprehensible data sharing and expediting the COVID vaccination process is a great necessity at the moment. 

---

Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List