10. India’s COVID-19 Vaccination Drive: Its Relevance in Managing the Pandemic

After the initial couple of months of the nation-wide lockdown, it became evident that mobility restrictions cannot be the way forward to manage the pandemic as it was impacting people’s livelihoods. India did not merely see vaccination as a health response but realized its importance for opening up the economy in a safe manner. An effective rollout of vaccinations against COVID-19 was thought to be the most promising prospect of relaxing COVID-related restrictions, getting back to normalcy and perhaps bringing an end to the pandemic. We track vaccination coverage across states and over time in 2021 when the severity of the disease was the maximum. We focus on inequality in coverage and compliance with two doses of vaccination across states and gender. We also present evidence on potential bottlenecks such as vaccine hesitancy and supply shortages across states and over time and how that might be related to sub-optimal coverage in certain areas and specific time points.