India's Covid vax rate falls 75% since Apr as US, UK ready for another shot

Far fewer Indians are getting vaccinated than at the beginning of the financial year. In April, there were around 14,000 weekly vaccinations on average, according to data compiled from the CoWin portal. This number had dropped to around 3,500 by August. The latest data for the week ending September 1 shows only 1,282 vaccinations.
 

Countries like the US and the UK have sought to give vaccinations another push amid rising cases there. An Omicron offshoot called BA.2.86, popularly referred to as the Pirola variant of the coronavirus, has been detected in the US, Switzerland, South Africa, and the UK, among other countries. The US has seen a new subvariant, EG.5, and has urged its population to take booster doses. The UK is looking to bring forward its vaccination schedule, prioritising the critically ill and those aged 65 and above.
 

In recent weeks, over 70 per cent of India’s current vaccinations have been adminis­tered to people in the age group of 45-60 years. Those above this bracket accounted for a single-digit share of vaccinations in August.  

The number has also been low for those below the age of 18, although there has been some evidence of a pick-up in this bracket in the previous week. They accounted for 19.8 per cent of the vaccinations given during the week ending August 25.

India’s booster coverage is lower than in many parts of the world. There have been 16 booster doses given for every 100 people in India, while the global figure is over 35. It is 42 in North America, 48 in Europe, and 58 in South America.

India had seen a surge in cases earlier in the year, with over 70,000 cases and 200 deaths a week at its peak in April. Towards the end of August, there were fewer than 400 cases, and weekly deaths numbered less than five.

P K Mishra, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, held a high-level meeting last week to review the current Covid status and preparedness. States have already been asked to closely monitor influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infection cases and send sufficient samples for whole genome sequencing of Covid-positive patient samples.

According to the World Health Organization, while EG.5 (Eris) has been reported from over 50 countries, the variant BA.2.86 (Pirola) is in four countries. In a statement last week, the Centre said that the daily average of new Covid cases continues to be below 50.

Experts like senior virologist Jacob John say that the elderly, especially those who are immunocompromised, such as organ transplant patients or cancer patients, need to take a precautionary shot of the vaccine.

“When the Covid-19 wave was raging, everyone needed to take whatever approved and effective vaccine was available. Now that we know that these Omicron sub-variants are not causing severe lung disease, only the vulnerable can take a shot of a safe vaccine,” John told Business Standard.

He added that the inactivated vaccine (or killed vaccine) Covaxin from Bharat Biotech has not had any major reports of adverse side effects, but now the country hardly has any stock left of it if anyone needs it.

“We need to plan our public response adequately and maintain a stockpile of vaccines. Because vaccine makers won’t produce unless there is assurance that someone will buy it,” John said.

Interestingly, vaccine makers have run out of stockpiles as the vaccines reach the end of their shelf lives.

Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals got the drug regulator’s nod recently in June for a mix-and-match booster dose of its messenger ribonucleic acid (or mRNA) Covid vaccine based on the Omicron strain.

The company informed this newspaper that it has 1 million doses of the vaccine ready with it in case anyone wants it. If there is a need for more, it is geared up to produce more doses readily.

On the other hand, the world’s largest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India (SII), does not have a stockpile of either Covishield (the AstraZeneca vaccine) or Covovax (the Novavax vaccine) left with it.

Sources indicated that the company can make fresh doses within three to four months if needed. “At the moment, there is no demand either from India or overseas,” a source added.

SII Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adar Poonawalla had said in April that the company had restarted production of Covishield after stopping it about a year ago. It intended to make 5–6 million doses and create a stockpile.

Bharat Biotech did not respond to queries within hours of going to press. Sources indicated that the company had to destroy doses after they expired.

Currently, only 39 sites are conducting vaccinations in the country: 19 government sites and 20 private sites. Covovax is the vaccine available at most sites.

Private hospitals or vaccination centres see no demand for vaccines and have therefore stopped placing orders.

“Across our network of hospitals, we have not seen any demand for Covid vaccines for months. At this moment, we don’t have a stockpile,” said Dilip Jose, managing director and CEO of the country’s second-largest hospital chain, Manipal Hospitals.