The report emphasised that quickening the pace and coverage of vaccination is critical to help India heal and regain the momentum of economic recovery.
The Finance Ministry made the observations on vaccination in its monthly economic report.
New Delhi:
The Finance Ministry has proposed for holding 24×7 vaccination against Covid in the country for the next couple of months in order to quicken the vaccination coverage, thereby regaining the country’s economic growth momentum. The ministry highlighted that the aim should be to inoculate 70 crore people in the country by the end of September.
The ministry, in its monthly economic report released on Wednesday, said quickening the pace and coverage of vaccination is critical to help India heal and regain the momentum of economic recovery. “If 70 crore people must be vaccinated by September 2021, it is estimated that around 113 crore doses are needed (19 crore for the second dose + 47 crore for two doses),” the report said.
Pointing out that 93 lakh vaccinations are needed per day to achieve herd immunity, the ministry said.
“So, doubling the shifts and possibly vaccinating 24×7 for a couple of months – particularly in August and September when supply is expected to increase significantly – can enable the ambitious, but possible, throughput of 1 crore shots a day.”
The report said that in the deadly second wave of the pandemic, manufacturing and construction are expected to experience a “softer economic shock in the current quarter” since the state-level lockdowns were more adaptive to learnings from the first wave last year.
Several states are now cautiously resuming activities stopped two months ago when the coronavirus cases began its deadly surge in the second wave. The ‘unlocking’ comes as Covid cases have seen a steady fall in recent weeks.
India reported 6,148 COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, a huge jump as compared to the previous day’s figures. The sudden rise is attributed to Bihar’s revision of its Covid deaths to over 9,000.
94,052 new cases were reported in India, with the country seeing a positivity rate under five per cent for the third straight day.
(With inputs from PTI)