Himachal Leads in Vaccinating Its Population. Which States Are Lagging Behind?

As per Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, all eligible people in Himachal had received their first vaccine shot.

Since the beginning of India's vaccination drive in January, a total of 76,57,17,137 cumulative vaccine doses have been administered till Thursday, 16 September, as per the Union Health Ministry data. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Since the beginning of India's vaccination drive in January, a total of 76,57,17,137 cumulative vaccine doses have been administered till Thursday, 16 September, as per the Union Health Ministry data.

According to the Unique Identification Aadhaar India data – which was updated in December 2020 – the projected population of India stood at 1,370,508,600 in mid 2020.

Further, as per the data reported by CoWIN, India administered a total of 57,92,22,167 first doses till Thursday morning, indicating that 38 percent of all population in India had been vaccinated with at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

But how do the states fare?

The government launched its liberalised and accelerated vaccination drive on 1 May, making all adults eligible for vaccination. Children are not yet a part of India's vaccination efforts.

On the basis of data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare till date, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh managed to inoculate the lowest percentage of their total populations.

In contrast, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand were leading in vaccinating their populations amid the pandemic.

Himachal Pradesh

On Thursday, Himachal Pradesh emerged as the state leading the vaccination efforts, with 75% of its people vaccinated with at least the first dose. 28% people in Himachal are fully vaccinated.

In a population of 74,51,955, a total 55,97,639 people were vaccinated with the first dose, while 20,57,882 had been given the second dose.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on 12 September had tweeted that 100% of all eligible people in Himachal had received the first vaccine shot.

Besides Himachal, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, and Sikkim had also managed to vaccinate all adults with at least the first dose.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Kerala

In Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday, 15 September, said that 80% of all eligible population had been inoculated with the first dose.

Of the total 3,56,99,443 people in the state, 2,30,90,007 were given the first dose and 92,74,596 had been fully vaccinated – taking the total percent of population inoculated to 64 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Uttarakhand

Also showing an upward trend in vaccinating populations, the state of Uttarakhand, which houses around 1,12,50,858 people, had managed to give the first dose to 63% of all its people by Thursday, and 22% were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the state.

Of its total population, 70,94,981 were inoculated with the first dose, while 24,77,019 had been given both the doses.

In August, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had said that 74% of all its eligible population had been vaccinated. Meanwhile, a report from The New Indian Express reported that this figure had spiked to 87% by Thursday.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

West Bengal

Among the states faring worst in terms of vaccination, of the 9,96,09,303 people in West Bengal, a total of 3,45,64,159 had received the first dose, while 1,39,67,629 had received the second dose.

This means that 35% of population had been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 14% of people in the state were fully vaccinated.

Out of the eligible population, Hindustan Times reported that around 41% received at least one dose till the beginning of September.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh, finding a place at the bottom of the list, had managed to inoculated 7,48,13,403 of its population with the first dose and 1,53,65,885 with the second dose by 16 September.

India's largest state is projected to be home to 23,78,82,725 people.

According to these numbers, only 31% people in the state have been given the first vaccine dose, and only a tiny fraction of 6% of people have been fully inoculated against COVID-19.

In terms of the population eligible for vaccination, UP managed to inoculate around 49% of its population.

However, UP has the highest number of cumulative vaccinations, with 9,01,79,288 jabs being administered in the state so far.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Jharkhand

Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, 32% of all people in the state had been given at least the fist COVID vaccine dose, and 9% were fully vaccinated.

A total of 1,22,09,563 first and 33,09,414 second doses were administered to a population of 3,85,93,948.

Of its eligible population, only 47.8% of people had received the shots, The Indian Express reported.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)