Can India vaccinate its 120 crore population by end of Dec 2021?

Facts of simple arithmetic for single dose/two doses are given below:

· 1 crore – 100,00,000; 10 crore – 10,00,00,00; and 120 crore – 120,00,00,000!

· Total districts :– 718

· Total States/UTs:- 28/8.

Ø Single Dose –

*By Districts: 120,00,00,000 divided by 718 = 16,71,310. If 16,71,310 is divided by 7 months = 2,38,758 doses per 24 days (excluding Sundays/holidays) or 9,948 doses per day.

*By States: 120,00,00,000 divided by 36= 333,33,333 or 3.33333 crore. Divided by 7 months = 47,61,905 doses per month; Doses per day (24 days in month excluding Sundays/holidays)= 1,98,412 doses per day.

Ø Double Dose –

* By Districts: 240 crore or nearly 20,000 doses per day.

* By States: 240 crore or nearly 4 lakh doses per day.

By above facts by basic arithmetic, the plan appears quite realistic.

After all, One Doctor/Nurse team @ of one dose in 5 minutes can administer 96 doses in a 8-hour schedule. And, they would need supporting staff of 2 computer savvy personal to cover the Cowin App. If so,

· Total Registered Doctors available: 12.55 lakh. (Inter district/state inequality exists).

· Total Number of Nurses/Midwives: Nearly same as above.

· District Level: Over 200 Doctors/Nurses.

· State Level: 4000 Doctors/Nurses.

If so, there are adequate numbers of Doctors/Nurses available to effectively implement the program of vaccination forecasted by various vaccine manufacturers and imports.

Hopefully, the Central Government has got its act of supply correct. If the supply chain is effectively manage to the States, the fault for poor implementation then squarely rests on the States.

In sum, the negative view of the Supreme Lordships and the cacophony on the visual media and social media is unwarranted and an attempt to obfuscate issues to score points over the Central Government.