Today 100 crore doses of vaccine can be administered in the country. Till Tuesday, more than 99 crore vaccine doses had been administered. In countries where rapid vaccination has taken place, some masks have become free. In such a situation, now the question is, after 100 crore doses, is our Diwali also going to be mask-free? The government had said in August to bring 216 crore vaccine doses by December. Would this be possible at the current speed?
The vaccination campaign started in the country on January 16. The initial 200 million vaccine doses were taken in 131 days. The next 20 crore doses were given in 52 days. It took 39 days to deliver 40 to 60 crore doses. It took only 24 days to give 60 crores to 80 crore doses.
Now it is taking 31 days from 80 crores to 100 crores. That is, now the speed has reduced. If the vaccination continues at the same pace, then it will take about 175 more days to get 216 crore vaccine doses in the country. That is, we can cross this figure around 5 April 2022.
After Britain, America, Sweden, China, New Zealand, Hungary, Italy, recently Saudi Arabia no longer has a mask mandate for fully vaccinated people.
Israel was the first country in the world to allow fully vaccinated people not to wear masks. However, due to the delta variant, it was again made mandatory to wear a mask when the cases increased again.
In countries where fully vaccinated people are exempted from masks, more than 50% of the population is fully vaccinated. The United States allowed vaccinated people not to wear masks after only 37% of the population was fully vaccinated.
We may have administered 100 crore doses, but only 20% of the country's population has been fully vaccinated. A single dose of the vaccine has been given to 29% of the population. In such a situation, we will have to wait for now for the mask to be free.
Epidemiologist Dr. Chandrakant Laharia says that it can be dangerous to do so until 85% of the population is completely vaccinated. Countries that have been exempted from this have a much lower population density than India. They say that we should take decisions according to our needs.
According to a report by brokerage firm Yash Securities, by January, 60 to 70% of the country's population will be fully vaccinated. By this time India will achieve herd immunity. After this, people can be completely exempted from wearing masks. Overall, it can be said that we will have to wait for at least 6 to 8 months more for complete freedom from masks.
In terms of population, the lowest vaccination has been done in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. Only 12% of the population of these three states is fully vaccinated. 36% of the population of Jharkhand has been given a single dose of the vaccine, while 37% of the population of Bihar has been given a single dose of the vaccine. At the same time, 40% of the population of UP has been given one dose of the vaccine.
However, the highest number of vaccine doses in the country have also been installed in Uttar Pradesh. Still, this is very little in terms of a state with a population of 23 crores. Apart from Maharashtra, big states have lagged behind in vaccinating population-wise. UP is behind. There is 17.4% of the country's population, while there is 11.9% of the total vaccine.
If we assess the vaccination according to the population, then the condition of UP looks worst. In most of the districts there, more than 15% of the population could not get both doses. Of the 100 districts with the least vaccination, 47 are from UP-Bihar. Noida of UP is also included in the top 8 districts with the best speed.
Till now there are only two states and two union territories where more than 50% of the population has been fully vaccinated. Both doses of the vaccine have been given to 64% of the population of Sikkim, the highest North-East state. At the same time, about 55% of the population of Goa has also been fully vaccinated. In two union territories, Lakshadweep and Dadra Nagar Haveli, most of the population has been fully vaccinated. In Lakshadweep, more than 65% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
Among the districts, maximum vaccination has been done in Gurgaon, Haryana. More than 83% of the population here has been fully vaccinated. The second number is Kinnaur in Himachal where 74% of the population has been given both doses of the vaccine. Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal at number three. Where more than 60% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Talking about the least vaccinated districts, Punjab's Firozpur is on the top. Where till now only 6% of the population is fully vaccinated. After this, the lowest vaccinate seven districts are from Uttar Pradesh. These include Rae Bareli, the constituency of Sonia Gandhi.