COVID-19 vaccination in India
Immunisation programme against COVID-19 in India / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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India began administration of COVID-19 vaccines on 16 January 2021. As of 4 March 2023[update], India has administered over 2.2 billion doses overall, including first, second and precautionary (booster) doses of the currently approved vaccines.[2][3] In India, 95% of the eligible population (12+) has received at least one shot, and 88% of the eligible population (12+) is fully vaccinated.[4][5]
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2023) |
Date | 16 January 2021 (2021-01-16) – present (3 years, 72 days ago) |
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Location | India |
Cause | COVID-19 pandemic in India |
Target | Immunisation of Indians against COVID-19 |
Budget | ₹35,000 crore (US$4.4 billion)[1] |
Organised by | Government of India Indian Council of Medical Research State governments of India |
Participants |
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Outcome |
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Website | MoHFW |
As on 4th March 2023 (07:00AM) |
India initially approved the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine (manufactured under license by Serum Institute of India under the trade name Covishield) and Covaxin (a vaccine developed locally by Bharat Biotech). They have since been joined by the Sputnik V (manufactured under license by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, with additional production from Serum Institute of India being started in September[6][7]), Moderna vaccines, Johnson & Johnson vaccine and ZyCoV-D (a vaccine locally developed by Zydus Cadila)[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] and other vaccine candidates undergoing local clinical trials.
According to a June 2022 study published in The Lancet, COVID-19 vaccination in India prevented an additional 4.2 million deaths from December 8, 2020, to December 8, 2021.[8][9]
Cumulative doses administered across the country
Total doses administered across the country as of March 4, 2023 [10][5]
Dose | Vaccination (Percentage of eligible population vaccinated) |
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Partially Vaccinated | 1,025,789,302(94.61) |
Fully Vaccinated | 952,033,158(87.81) |
Precautionary(Booster) Dose | 228,593,024 |
Monthly graph of cumulative doses administered across the country
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Graph of daily doses administered across the country
Graph of daily doses administered. Last updated: March 4, 2023[11]
Daily vaccinations (1st dose only) Daily vaccinations (2nd dose only)
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Vaccine administration by Gender
Vaccinations in India by Gender as of March 4, 2023[10][5]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Gender | Vaccination |
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Male | 1,00,60,86,799 |
Female | 96,74,31,679 |
Others | 4,80,887 |
Vaccine administration by vaccine brand
Vaccinations in India by Vaccine Brand as of March 4, 2023 [10][5]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Brand | Vaccination |
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Covishield | 1,74,93,57,213 |
Covaxin | 36,37,74,435 |
Sputnik V | 12,32,692 |
Corbevax | 7,38,04,121 |
Covovax | 33,326 |
Vaccine administration by age group
Vaccinations in India by Age Group as of March 4, 2023 [10][5]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Age Group | Vaccination |
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12-14 | 7,38,25,081 |
15-17 | 11,59,42,821 |
18-44 | 1,13,08,38,083 |
45-60 | 41,97,83,374 |
60+ | 30,23,46,969 |
States by Vaccine Coverage
This article needs to be updated. (March 2022) |
(as of 15 September (7:00 IST))
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Number of Vaccination Centres
Citizens above the age of 12 can book appointments through the COWIN platform or can do a Walk-In registration on site. All vaccine centres have registration desks, vaccine booths and observation rooms. Vaccine certificates can be downloaded digitally through the COWIN platform, or citizens can ask for a hard copy from vaccination centres. All government run vaccination centers provide free of cost vaccines, private centers do charge.[13]
First Phase, initial approvals, launch of vaccination programme
In September 2020, India's Health minister Harsh Vardhan stated that the country planned to approve and begin distribution of a vaccine by the first quarter of 2021.[14] The first recipients were to be 30 million health workers directly dealing with COVID patients.[15]
On 1 January 2021, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved emergency use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine (local trade name "Covishield").[16][17][18] On 2 January, the DCGI also granted an interim emergency use authorisation to BBV152 (trade name "Covaxin"), a domestic vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology.[19] This approval was met with some concern, as the vaccine had not then completed phase 3 clinical trials.[20] Due to this status, those receiving Covaxin were required to sign a consent form,[21] while some states chose to relegate Covaxin to a "buffer stock" and primarily distribute Covishield.[22]
India began its vaccination programme on 16 January 2021, operating 3,006 vaccination centres on the onset.[23] Each vaccination centre will offer either Covishield or Covaxin, but not both.[24] 165,714 people were vaccinated on the first day of availability. Difficulties in uploading beneficiary lists at some sites caused delays.[25] In the first three days, 631,417 people were vaccinated. Of these, 0.18% reported side-effects and nine people (0.002%) were admitted to hospitals for observation and treatment.[26][27] Within those first days, there were concerns about low turnout, due to a combination of vaccine safety concerns, technical problems with the software used, and misinformation.[28]
The first phase of the rollout involved health workers and frontline workers, including police, paramilitary forces, sanitation workers, and disaster management volunteers.[23] By 1 March, only 14 million healthcare and frontline workers had been vaccinated, falling short of the original goal of 30 million.[29]
Second phase
The next phase of the vaccine rollout covered all residents over the age of 60, residents between the ages of 45 and 60 with one or more qualifying comorbidities, and any health care or frontline worker that did not receive a dose during phase 1. Online registration began on 1 March via the Aarogya Setu app and Co-WIN ("Winning over COVID-19") website.[30][31][32] Amid the beginnings of a major second wave of infections in the country,[33][34][35] vaccine exports were suspended in March 2021, and the government ordered 110 million Covishield doses from SII.[36] The company aims to produce 100 million doses per month, but by May 2021 its production capacity was only 60–70 million doses.[37][38] Following the conclusion of its trial, the DCGI issued a standard emergency use authorisation to Covaxin on 11 March 2021.[39]
From 1 April, eligibility was extended to all residents over the age of 45.[40] On 8 April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a four-day Teeka Utsav ("Vaccine Festival") from 11 to 14 April, with a goal to increase the pace of the program by vaccinating as many eligible residents as possible. By the end of the Utsav, India had reached a total of over 111 million vaccine doses to-date.[41][42][43]
Third phase, Sputnik V approval
On 12 April, the DCGI approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use in India. A phase 3 trial was conducted in the country in September 2020, which showed 91.6% efficacy.[44] The local distributor Dr. Reddy's Laboratories stated that it planned to have the vaccine in India by late May 2021.[45]
On 19 April, it was announced that the next phase of the vaccination programme would begin on 1 May, extending eligibility to all residents over the age of 18. Under phase 3, individual stakeholders were also given more flexibility in how they conduct the vaccination programme. As part of this plan, only half of the vaccines procured by the Central Drugs Laboratory from manufacturers would be distributed by the central government. This supply would go to government-run clinics and be offered free-of-charge to residents 45 and over and priority workers and siphoned off to states based on factors such as the number of active cases and how quickly they are administering vaccines. The remainder would be offered to individual states and purchased on the open market (including private hospitals), which would be able to serve residents over the age of 18.[46][47][48]
Registration for the next phase began on 28 April; a single-day record of nearly 13.3 million people registered.[49] Due to supply issues, several states, including Delhi, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh announced that they would delay their wider rollouts of vaccines to later in the month.[50]
The initial shipment of 150,000 Sputnik V doses arrived on 1 May, and began to be administered on 14 May.[51][52][53] An estimated 156 million doses is expected between August and December; initially, doses will be sourced from Russia, but domestic production is expected to begin by August 2021.[54][55][56]
On 13 May, the DCGI approved phase 2 and phase 3 trials of Covaxin on children 2–18.[57] On 14 May, health officials projected that based on the anticipated approval of additional vaccine options, it could receive at least 2.17 billion more vaccine doses from August to December 2021.[58][59] On 25 May, India exceeded 200 million vaccine doses administered in total.[60] On 3 June, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare pre-ordered 300 million doses of a potential fourth vaccine, Corbevax, which is undergoing phase 3 clinical trials.[61]
On 23 May, the union government allowed walk-in registrations for vaccination throughout the country; a health worker at the vaccination centre would register the recipient in the Co-win vaccination database. The government claimed in an affidavit to the Supreme Court that as of June 23 about 78 per cent of vaccines had been administered via walk-in registration.[62]
Return to centralised procurement
On 31 May, an affidavit was issued in the Supreme Court of India requesting a review of the central government's vaccine distribution strategy, suggesting that the decision to only offer doses at no charge to priority workers and residents over the age of 45 was "prima facie arbitrary and irrational".[63]
On 7 June, Prime Minister Modi announced that India would migrate back to centralised procurement of vaccines by 21 June. In an address, Modi stated that multiple chief ministers had requested that the central government reconsider its new distribution strategy and reinstate the system it had used before May. As before, the centre will procure up to 75% of the country's vaccine supplies from manufacturers in bulk and distribute them to states at no additional charge. Vaccines would now be offered at no charge for those in the 18–44 age group. Private hospitals will still be responsible for the remaining 25% of procurement, but fees for appointments are now capped at ₹150 (US$1.90).[64][65]
On 21 June, the day these changes took effect, approximately 8,270,000 doses were administered—India's largest single-day total until that point. The states of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka had the highest local totals.[66][67][68] Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha P. Chidambaram accused Bharatiya Janata Party of having "hoarded" vaccine doses in the days leading up to 21 June in order to encourage larger numbers; seven states controlled by the BJP were among the top ten states to have administered vaccine doses that day, few of these states had below-average vaccination numbers in the days leading up to 21 June (such as Madhya Pradesh, which went from 692 doses on 20 June to 1,690,000 the next day, and numbers had dropped significantly in the state the next day).[69][70][71][72]
On 23 June, India surpassed over 300 million vaccine doses administered in total.[73] On 28 June, India overtook the United States in total vaccine doses administered.[74] On 29 June, the DCGI approved the Moderna vaccine (which is being imported by Cipla) for emergency use. Vinod Kumar Paul stated that the Pfizer vaccine was also likely to be approved soon.[75][76]
500 million mark, Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine approval and record
On 6 August 2021, India crossed the 500 million doses milestone within 6 months from the onset of the vaccination program.[77]
On 7 August 2021, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved emergency use of the Johnson and Johnson single-dose vaccine.[78] On 16 Aug 2021, India administered around 8.81 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, achieving the highest single-day record and overtaking its own previous record of 8.61 million doses, by 16 August the cumulative doses had surpassed the 550 million mark.[79][80]
ZyCoV-D approval for ages 12 & above and single day vaccination records
On 20 August 2021, India granted emergency authorization to Zydus Cadila's vaccine ZyCoV-D, the world's first DNA plasmid-based COVID-19 vaccine, for patients 12 and older.
India granted emergency use approval to the world's first DNA based COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by for adults and children aged 12 years and above. The vaccine is administered using a needle-free applicator.[81][82] The government announced on 30 September 2021 that the ZyCoV-D vaccine will be a three dose vaccine and it will be included in the Covid vaccination programme of India.[83]
Since August 10, 2021, foreign nationals residing in India can now receive the COVID-19 vaccine by registering themselves on the Cowin platform; like other eligible beneficiaries, the foreign nationals can book a slot via the portal and use their passport as a document to verify their identity for the registration process.[84]
By 26 August 2021, 50% of the adult population in India were inoculated with at least one dose of the approved vaccines, which included 99% coverage among healthcare workers and 100% front-line workers for the first dose.[85]
On 27 August 2021, India crossed the milestone of administering more than 10 million (1 crore) doses of COVID-19 vaccine in a single day, setting a new world record. Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 2.8 million doses, followed by Karnataka with 1 million doses and Maharashtra at third with 0.98 million doses.[86]
On 29 August 2021, Himachal Pradesh became the first state to complete administering first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 100% of the population.[87] On 31 August, India again set another single-day vaccination record by inoculating around 12 million (1.2 Crore) doses in 24 hours.[88]
By September 2021, all adult people in Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Ladakh, and Lakshadweep have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine as the cumulative jabs administered in the country crossed 75 crores. Many city corporations, talukas, gram panchayats and districts had also administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination to 100 per cent of their adult population.[89][90] [91]
As many as 25 million people were vaccinated on Narendra Modi's birthday on 17 September 2021. This is the highest single-day vaccination tally so far in the whole world.[92] There are allegations that a lot of pressure could have been put on officials to increase and twist to record vaccination numbers on the Prime Minister's birthday as some people who had not received their Covid shots somehow seem to have been issued vaccination certificates including those who are deceased.[93][94]
On 27 September, India administered over 1 crore vaccine doses for the fifth time, and total vaccination coverage crossed 86 crore (860 million).[95] On 2 October, this increased to 960 million.[96]
Booster doses and pediatric vaccines
By September 2021, several companies had received approval to begin clinical trials on COVID-19 vaccines for children.[97] Discussions were also emerging over whether India would utilize vaccine booster doses, with the government having maintained that they were studying their applicability, and that they were focused on their goal to administer a primary series of vaccine doses to all adults.[98] On 21 October 2021, India crossed the one billion mark for administered doses.[99]
On 26 December 2021, Prime Minister Modi announced that vaccine eligibility would be extended to youth 15 to 18 years of age from 3 January 2022 (with online registration opened on 1 January 2022); this age group would exclusively receive Covaxin. It was also announced that booster doses would become available from 10 January 2022, beginning with frontline workers, and residents over the age of 60 with comorbidities. Within this cohort, doses would be prioritized to those who had received their second dose at least nine months prior.[100][101]
On 14 March 2022, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that vaccine eligibility would be extended to children 12–14, and that this group would exclusively receive Corbevax. Booster eligibility was also extended to all adults 60 and older.[102] On 8 April 2022, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced that all adults 18 and over would become eligible for booster doses beginning 10 April, and that they would be available via private vaccination centres.[103]
In May 2022, the Supreme Court of India ruled that COVID-19 vaccine mandates were unconstitutional, citing the "emerging scientific opinion" that COVID-19 vaccines did not reduce the risk of transmission by those who are vaccinated.[104]