Pace of India's jab roll-out hinges on push in hinterland

BENGALURU • Covid-19 vaccinations in India over the next few weeks could fall short of the blistering pace set on the first day of a federal campaign, unless it makes inroads in a vast hinterland and bridges a shortage of doses, experts said yesterday.

The 8.6 million doses injected on Monday represented a record jump as India kicked off free inoculation for all adults, reversing a policy for individual states and hospitals to buy vaccines for those aged 18 to 44.

"This is clearly not sustainable," Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, an expert in public policy and health systems, told Reuters. "With the currently projected vaccine supply for the next few months, the maximum daily achievable rate is four million to five million a day."

The inoculation effort in the world's second-most-populous nation has covered about 5.5 per cent of the 950 million people eligible, even though India is the world's largest vaccine producer.

A devastating second wave of infections in April and last month overwhelmed medical staff and facilities, killing hundreds of thousands.

Images of funeral pyres blazing in carparks and open spaces spurred questions over the chaotic vaccine roll-out. Since last month, India has distributed an average of fewer than three million doses a day, far less than the 10 million health officials say is crucial to protect the millions vulnerable to new surges.

The drive has faltered particularly in the countryside, where two-thirds of the population of 1.4 billion live and the healthcare system is often overstretched, experts say.

Maintaining the pace of the vaccination effort will prove particularly challenging when it comes to injecting the younger population in underserved areas, said Delhi-based epidemiologist Rajib Dasgupta.

Widespread vaccine shortages since last month have worsened the divide between urban and rural areas, as many younger people in cities turned to private hospitals, paying between US$9 (S$12) and US$24 a dose in the rush to protect themselves.

Such regional gaps in healthcare are exacerbated in the absence of comprehensive data made available on vaccinations, said professor of epidemiology Bhramar Mukherjee at the University of Michigan.

The authorities in New Delhi said more than eight million residents had yet to receive a first dose, and inoculating all adults in the capital would take more than a year at the current pace.

India yesterday reported 42,640 new infections over a 24-hour period - its lowest figure since March 23 - and 1,167 deaths. Its tally of infections stands at 29.98 million, with a death toll of 389,302.

REUTERS