After reducing the gap between the second dose and the precautionary dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from nine to six months for adults, the government on Wednesday announced free booster shots for adults for the next 75 days. The measures were put in place as the pace of booster administration was lagging after a brisk start in January this year, when it was introduced. A comparison with comparable and neighbouring economies shows that India’s booster penetration was among the lowest. Only 3.6% of India’s population received booster shots as of July 13, whereas the world average was 27.4%. Strikingly, India’s progress in the administration of the first two doses was relatively better, with 65.5% of the population getting both shots, which is higher than the world average of 61.2%. A study of vaccine effectiveness from England has demonstrated that the efficacy of booster doses against hospitalisation among symptomatic cases with the Omicron variant increases to 92% from 64% (two doses) and 58% (one dose).
Consistently poor
The graph shows the number of precautionary vaccine shots administered weekly in India. In the week precautionary doses were introduced, 37 lakh doses were delivered. Since then, there has been a rapid decline. While the number of shots administered improved post-April, when another COVID-19 wave hit India, the initial peak was never surpassed
Charts appear incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode
First two dosage coverage
If we look at the total number of people who received the first two doses prescribed by the initial vaccination protocol and divide that by the total population of the country/region, we find that India’s performance is better than the world average
Booster doses coverage
This refers to the total number of vaccine booster doses administered divided by the total population of the country/region. Booster doses are doses administered beyond those prescribed by the original vaccination protocol. India’s performance is much poorer than the world average and is closer to Africa’s share
Efficacy of boosters
An analysis of over 1.8 lakh symptomatic Omicron cases in England at the end of 2021 showed that vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation improved to 85%-90%, two to four weeks after the booster doses were administered
Source: Ourworldindata, UK Health Security Agency, COWIN
Also read: Data | Omicron variant BA.2 and its sub-lineages responsible for latest COVID-19 surge
