India's Vaccination Pace Unlikely To Pick Up In July, Centre's Data Shows

The government's latest numbers on Covid vaccine supply for July suggest it may fall short of its daily vaccination targets.

Twelve crore vaccine doses have been assigned to states and Union Territories for July, the government told the Supreme Court in an affidavit on Saturday. These include 10 crore doses of Serum Institute of India's Covishield and two crore doses of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.

This means less than 40 lakh doses a day, which is significantly lower than the target of about 1 crore doses. The Centre's statement raises questions about the country meeting vaccine targets in order to avoid a third wave of Covid.

June had seen an uptick in vaccination rates in the country. Between June 1 and June 27, about 10.8 crore doses were administered in India, at a daily average of about 40 lakh doses a day. The pace of vaccination may not pick up significantly next month.

Between June 22 and 26, India has been administering 54-65 lakh doses a day, higher than the projected supply of 40 lakh doses a day in July.

The government also told the Supreme Court that 135 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be available by December - vastly less than the Union Health Ministry's projection last month.

These 135 crore shots factor in Russia's Sputnik V, Bio E Sub unit vaccine and Zydus Cadila's DNA vaccine. But the last two have yet to clear all approval processes.

In a presentation last month, the Union Health Ministry had projected that over 216 crore doses would be available by the year-end.

The Centre's affidavit is related to the Supreme Court's "suo motu case" on COVID-19 management.

The court had earlier questioned the government's vaccination policy, calling it "arbitrary."