India’s booster drive needs a booster shot
The clearest way to tackle complacency appears to be to keep boosters free and reach out to people and inform them about the very clear science around them.
As on Tuesday, there were over 770 million people across India between 18 and 60 who were due for their precaution (or booster) dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. But government data shows that only 12% of this cohort has taken the third shot. This statistic isn’t encouraging even for people who have been eligible for boosters the longest (three categories of people – those above 60, health care and frontline workers – were deemed at highest risk and thus were the first ones allowed to take a third shot). Even among the 168 million eligible people in these groups, booster coverage is merely 35%.
Nearly nine months into India’s booster programme, these numbers highlight the persistent uphill challenge in expanding coverage. With 98% of India’s adults having received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 92% having received two shots, the reluctance appears only to be for boosters – posing a unique challenge for policy makers.
A possible solution to this hurdle also appears to be visible in statistics. Of the 157 million booster shots administered across India till Tuesday evening, nearly two-thirds have come in just the past month-and-a-half. This is because on July 15, the government launched Covid Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava — a campaign to give an impetus to boosters. Special drives conducted to give free booster shots at railways and bus stations, schools, colleges and workplaces appear to have propelled numbers – suggesting that free shots indeed encouraged more people, if not all.
So, the clearest way to tackle complacency appears to be to keep boosters free and reach out to people and inform them about the very clear science around them. Pushing boosters now will not only save lives today, but also in the months to come with new variants and waves looming on the horizon.