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State of the Economy 25

Figure 26: Vaccination Coverage

180 Daily doses (7 days MA, RHS) Total Doses (7 DMA) 120
160 100
140
120 80
100 Phase -II (Above 60 Years)
Crore 80 Phase -I (Healthcare & Frontline Workers) Phase -II (45-59 Years) Phase -III (18-44 Years) Universalization of vaccination Phase -IV (15-18 Years) 60 Lakh
60 40
40 Booster Dose 20
20
0 0
1-17-21 1-31-21 2-14-21 2-28-21 3-14-21 3-28-21 4-11-21 4-25-21 5-9-21 5-23-21 6-6-21 6-20-21 7-4-21 7-18-21 8-1-21 8-15-21 8-29-21 9-12-21 9-26-21 10-10-21 10-24-21 11-7-21 11-21-21 12-5-21 12-19-21 1-2-22 1-16-22

month-day-year
Source: Survey Calculations using data from MoHFW
1.29 With India witnessing a resurgence in daily new cases since end-December 2021, marking
the onset of Omicron variant induced third wave, rapid progress in vaccination coverage and
further strengthening of testing and health infrastructure assume critical importance in protecting
lives and containing the spread of the infection.

Box 1: India’s vaccination drive

Vaccination has been an integral pillar of the comprehensive strategy of Government of India for
containment and management of the pandemic. On 16 January 2021, India commenced the world’s
th
largest vaccination program with an ambitious target to inoculate its entire eligible population by 31
st
December 2021, with at least the first dose. In the first phase, the vaccination drive was sequentially
expanded to cover Health Care Workers and Front Line Workers. The second phase started on 1
st
March (for above 60 years) and 1 April 2021 (from 45-59 years) making all persons aged 45 years
st
and above eligible for vaccination. This cohort had accounted for more than 80 per cent of the
COVID-19 mortality in the country. The third phase began on 1 May 2021 to vaccinate people in
st
the age group of 18-45 years. From 3 January 2022, the vaccination drive has been further extended
rd
to include those in the age group of 15-18 years. Taking cognisance of the recent global surge of the
Omicron variant, the Variant of Concern declared by WHO on 26 November 2021, booster doses to
th
healthcare and frontline workers as well as senior citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities
have been allowed by Government from 10 January 2022. Vaccination access and pricing have been
th
deregulated to quicken the pace of vaccination across states and all age groups.

The latest available data at the time of writing shows that 99 per cent of the registered Health Care
Workers and 100 per cent of the Front-Line Workers, 87 per cent of the population aged between 18-
44 years, 95 per cent of the population aged between 45-60 years and 89 per cent of the population
above 60 years have been covered under the first dose. Vaccination drive continues to gather speed and
breadth with the number of days taken to achieve an additional 10 crore doses reducing significantly
from 86 days during the initial phase to 15 days now (Figure 1A). The average daily vaccination rate
has increased four-fold from 19.3 lakh in May 2021 to 75.4 lakh as of 16 January 2021. As on 16
th
th
January 2022, eligible population (18 year and above) vaccinated in India with first dose was 93 per
cent and with second dose 69.8 per cent (Figure 1C).