After reaching 60%, vaccination rates in the 15-18 age range begin to decline

After about 60% of the population in the 15-18 age group received their first doses of Covid-19 vaccinations, immunisation rates in this group have slowed significantly.

Only approximately 6.25 lakh persons in this age range were vaccinated every day on average in the last week, compared to nearly 40 lakh per day during the first week of this month, when vaccination for those under the age of 18 began. More than 4.5 crore people received their initial dosages at this time. The 15-18 age group in India is projected to number between 7.5 and 8 crore people.

The slowdown is not wholly unexpected, and it is essentially in line with recent patterns in adult immunisation. Vaccination progress in any population group tends to slow once the inoculation has reached the halfway point.

The drop in vaccine demand in the 15-18 age group, on the other hand, is significantly more pronounced than in the adult population. A lack of urgency could be one of the reasons. The Omicron variety, which is generating the present wave of infections, does not cause major illnesses, especially in children, and immunizations have proven to be useless in preventing infections.

Vaccine demand is relatively consistent in the most vulnerable age groups. On a daily basis, almost five to six lakh people receive booster dosages. This is similar to three weeks ago, when frontline employees and senior residents began receiving booster doses, sometimes known as "precautionary dosages" in India.

In India, there are more than 10 crore persons above the age of 60, and more than 70% of them are double-vaccinated. However, not all of them are qualified for the booster dose right away. Booster doses are now only given to those who have completed nine months after their second dosage or who have comorbidities. Even in this category, people who become sick during the third wave must wait a few weeks to recover.

As of Friday, India had provided about 165 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccinations, accounting for around 16% of the total worldwide. According to the Our World in Data project, which was started by researchers at the University of Oxford, more than 10 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been delivered worldwide. However, there have been significant disparities in immunization coverage.

A Covid-19 vaccination has been administered to more than 60% of the world's population. Africa, on the other hand, has only delivered roughly 350 million doses despite having 54 countries with a combined population equivalent to India's. That works out to around one dose per four people. So far, the world's poorest countries have only been able to provide less than 100 million doses.

In contrast, certain governments, including as Israel, have started providing individuals with fourth dosages. Covid vaccinations have been provided in China in excess of three billion doses. In Europe, approximately 1.2 billion vaccine doses have been administered, whereas the United States has administered close to 540 million vaccine doses to far.

Covax, a combined effort of the World Health Organization and a few other international entities to ensure inexpensive and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccinations for all, has distributed over 1 billion doses of vaccines.