Around 1.6 crore Indians missed their second jab of COVID-19 vaccine: Reports

Even as India became one of the fastest countries to administer COVID-19 vaccination doses to a large section of the country’s population, several media reports suggest that at least 1.6 crore people have missed their second jabs of COVID-19 vaccines in India. 

With experts warning the population of the impending third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, several media reports have suggested that 1.6 crore Indians have missed their time frame of getting jabbed for the second time with the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Calculations have been made according to the health ministry reports and the data they put forward with regards to how many people got their first vaccine dose on May 2. 16 weeks later, the number of people who have gotten jabbed for the second time in India falls short of at least 1.6 crore.

According to the government data, the number of people who have been administered their second jab of the COVID-19 vaccine after the government-mandated gap stands at 3.9 crore. The data further states that only 11.2 crore of the 12.9 crore people who got their first dose of the vaccine on May 2 have gotten their second dose yet. 

These numbers are a cause for concern as vaccination is one of the major factors which will help India beat the third wave of the pandemic, which is estimated to peak in October. The gap between the two vaccine doses was also increased by the central government.

According to the updated vaccine guidelines issued by the Centre on May 13, the gap between the two Covishield doses needs to be around 12-16 weeks while the gap between two Covaxin doses needs to be around 4-6 weeks. The gap between the Covishield doses was reduced to just 60 days for students heading overseas for their studies and the Tokyo Olympics 2020 team. 

Trial runs for administering COVID-19 vaccine doses to children between the ages of 2 and 12 are currently being conducted in India, though the slots for people under the age of 18 have not opened in India yet. 

According to government data, India reported 25,467 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

(With agency inputs)