In the current vaccination slots, people are being injected with either Covisheild or Covaxin. In the case of Covisheild, it has been accounted for over 85% of all the vaccination as per recent reports from the Governmental departments on May 13. Covisheild vaccination has recommended gap of 12 to 16 weeks.
Whereas in the case of covid-19, the recommended gap is of four to six weeks. Therefore, the total number of vaccination shots as of Monday includes most of the people who have got both shots of Covaxins since May 2nd and a few who got their first Covisheild shot in early May to mid-August.
To consider the 12-week gap, one must look at the number of persons from the priority groups who got their first vaccine shot until 31st May 2021. The number was about 15.1 crore. Next, the number of those supposed to get their second dose but haven’t swelled to 3.9 crores.
One of the most crucial reasons the government has asked people to use the Cowin app is to book their vaccination slots. This was to ensure that more vulnerable groups, like the frontline healthcare workers, could be prioritised early.
However, the data from the Ministry of Health Department indicates that this hasn’t been quite successful. For people of the age group 18 to 44, vaccination was open from May 1. But on 2nd May, only 86,000 people from this age group were injected with their first vaccination dose. Soon after that, the vaccination for this age group has been lifted off. Over 1.94 crore people of this age group received their second dose by Monday that is 23rd of August, 2021.
