On January 7, a year after India commenced the world’s largest vaccination programme, the country achieved a landmark when it finished administering a total of 1.5 billion doses. In comparison, the US has administered 520 million doses, the UK 130.7 million. At present, 92 per cent of India’s eligible adult population has received the first dose of the vaccine while 70 per cent have received both doses. The programme has been so successful that Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya calls it a “role model for the global community”. Indeed, few countries have had to vaccinate a population as large or as geographically varied as India. From sending vaccines via drones to far-flung regions in the upper Himalayas, to mobilising local community leaders to overcome vaccine hesitancy, the programme has conquered several obstacles.
It should therefore come as no surprise that the latest MOTN survey finds an overwhelming 82 per cent respondents endorsing the vaccination programme as a success, with nearly 49 per cent rating the government’s efforts ‘outstanding’. “We have been consistent in our efforts. Over the past year, vaccine supply and availability have been streamlined. Our healthcare workers have worked very hard. Our coverage today is remarkable,” says Dr V.K. Paul, chairman of the country’s vaccine committee.
Graphic by Tanmoy Chakraborty
Having reached major milestones in the coverage for adults, the programme has now further diversified to include those between the ages of 15 and 18 years. Within two weeks of the first jabs being given, 46 per cent of those eligible have already received a single dose. A third ‘precaution’ dose has also been given to 1.8 million healthcare workers and 1.4 million frontline workers to further protect them from the new strain of Covid, designated Omicron.
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When it comes to the handling of the pandemic itself, while 66 per cent still express faith in the government, the figure is lower than the 73 per cent that had lauded the government’s efforts in the January 2021 MOTN poll. The lethal second wave, spurred by the highly infectious Delta variant in March 2021, officially claimed around 400,000 lives and caused long-term health and financial implications for thousands more. The chaos and devastation of that wave still remains fresh in the minds of many. However, between August 2021 and January 2022, the country saw a period of low infectivity, with only 37 new cases, zero deaths and a positivity rate of 0.06 per cent on October 24, 2021. The latest MOTN poll shows that nearly 35 per cent find the government’s Covid efforts to be ‘outstanding’, nearly double of the 13 per cent who expressed the same sentiment in August 2021, a few months after the second wave subsided.
Graphics by Tanmoy Chakraborty
The relative lull since the second wave has also revived faith in state healthcare efforts. MOTN results find 62 per cent happy with their states’ performance, versus 55 per cent in August 2021 and 70 per cent in January 2021.
Respondents from Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have expressed the maximum level of satisfaction with their state’s efforts. Odisha, which topped with 76.7 per cent finding the state’s performance to be ‘outstanding’, has not only succeeded in keeping mortality and infection figures low, but was also the first in the country to fully vaccinate the entire population of its capital city, Bhubaneswar. When it comes to Covid management, the public not only wants governments to provide medical infrastructure during surges, but have also expressed equal interest in knowing what steps are being taken to prevent future waves. Keeping the population safe in the long term is what has come to matter the most.
Graphic by Tanmoy Chakraborty
Graphic by Tanmoy Chakraborty
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