After Setting Record, India's Vaccination Rate Declines By 40%

A day after setting a record of administering 8.6 million doses on Monday, June 21, the speed of COVID vaccination fell sharply with 5.3 million doses being administered on Tuesday, June 22, according to data. The revised vaccine policy of the government kicked off on June 21.

States Recording Highest Decline

Among the states, Madhya Pradesh recorded a sharp decline. From inoculating over 1.5 million people on June 21, the state-administered only 68,370 doses administered till 10 pm on Tuesday, June 22. In Karnataka, which had administered over 1 million doses on June 21, the figure was down to 392,536 doses a day later, reported LiveMint.

In Haryana, there was a 75 per cent drop in daily vaccination numbers on June 22 (128,979 doses administered till 10 pm), compared to 511,882 on Monday, June 21.

State data compiled from CoWIN dashboard, however, showed that daily vaccination numbers on June 22 dropped in 12 states, primarily those that had seen record turnout a day before, such as Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar, among others.

The previous high was achieved in early April when 4.3 million doses were administered. However, after that, the pace of the immunisation drive continued to decline due to an acute vaccine shortage. This happened at a time when cases in the country began rising. Amid the crippling shortage, the Centre authorised the emergency use of Russia's Sputnik V COVID vaccine.

Senior health ministry officials attributed the increase in the rate of vaccination on Monday and Tuesday to greater coordination between the Centre and states.

"We have demonstrated in the past that we have the capacity to administer far greater numbers of vaccines in a day, particularly if you see the example of the polio drive. This time, we have used that know-how for better collaboration. Since states knew the quantum of vaccines that was going to come to them in advance, they were able to execute it more efficiently," said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

States That Fared Well

The vaccination drive in states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh picked up pace on Tuesday, June 22. Maharashtra witnessed the largest spike in numbers – a rise of 45 per cent from the 394,794 doses administered on June 21 to 574,365 till 10 pm on June 22. It was followed by Punjab 24 per cent increase, Himachal Pradesh 23 per cent rise and Chhattisgarh 22 per cent.

Uttar Pradesh showed a 15 per cent increase in daily vaccination on June 22 as the state administered 844,174 doses till 10 pm.

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