Over 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 5.3 million vaccine doses were administered on Tuesday, taking the cumulative number to 876 million. With Tuesday’s vaccinations, 68% of the estimated adult population of over 900 million has received their first dose and 24.61% are fully vaccinated, the health ministry said.

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, according to The Indian Express. 

“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.
 
According to latest official data, four large states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat – have conducted more than 60 million cumulative vaccinations. Three of these large states have a second dose coverage higher than the national average: Gujarat (40%), Madhya Pradesh (27%) and Maharashtra (26%). Uttar Pradesh, which has conducted the maximum cumulative vaccinations, has, however, administered both doses to just 13.34% of the adult population.

West Bengal, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Bihar have carried out more than 50 million cumulative vaccinations. While Karnataka (35%) and Rajasthan (30%) have second dose coverage above the national average, West Bengal (23%) has second dose coverage nearing the national average. Bihar (14%) has a second dose average significantly lower than the national average.

The four states which have crossed 30 million cumulative vaccinations have also crossed 20 per cent second dose coverage: Kerala (37.44%), Odisha (26%), Andhra Pradesh (24%) and Tamil Nadu (20%). Two out of the three states that have conducted more than 20 million cumulative vaccinations have second dose coverage more than the national average: Telangana and Haryana (31% each), and Assam (24%).
 
Four states and two union territories have conducted cumulative vaccination of more than 1 crore doses. Four of them – Uttarakhand (40%), J&K (39%), Delhi (35%), Chhattisgarh (27% ) – now have second dose vaccination coverage above the national average. The remaining two – Punjab (22.4%) and Jharkhand (15.43%) – have second dose vaccination coverage below the national average, The Indian Express said.