MORE THAN eight months after it rolled out the Covid-19 vaccination drive, India on Tuesday completed administering both doses of the vaccine to almost 25% of the estimated adult population.
According to provisional data, more than 53 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Tuesday, taking the cumulative number to 87.59 crore. With Tuesday’s vaccinations, 68% of the estimated adult population has received their first dose and 24.61% are fully vaccinated.
Almost a quarter of the adult population being fully vaccinated has significant public health implications. Data shows that vaccine effectiveness in preventing death enhances after the second dose, offering near-total protection (97.5%) against severity and death.
“It is clear that among the tools we are using in our fight against the pandemic, it is the vaccine tool, which is the most significant shield that is protecting us from death. It is also clear that if you give two doses there is near total protection against serious disease and death. This will change the scenario very dramatically,” Dr V K Paul, head of India’s Covid-19 task force, had earlier said.