A Finance Ministry report on Friday estimated that over 67 crore doses will be administered before the festive season beginning September. However, it pointed out six States, including Uttar Pradesh, for slow pace of vaccination.

“Average daily vaccination rate has doubled to 41.3 lakh doses in June compared to 19.3 lakh in May subsequent to implementation of the revised national Covid Vaccination Policy since June 21, 2021. At the current inoculation pace, it is estimated that India will administer over 67 crore doses before the festive season begins in September,” stated the monthly economic review, prepared by the Economic Affairs Department of Finance Ministry.

The Government started implementing reworked vaccination policy with effect from June 21. Under this, the Centre will procure entire 75 per cent of vaccines produced in India and provide to States for free inoculation. The remaining 25 per cent is available to private hospitals for paid vaccination. Jabs are available for individuals with age of 18 years or above.

The report said that a significant coverage by the vaccine could provide a crucial boost for domestic demand. “An analysis of the State-wise proportion of population vaccinated relative to its share in total population indicates that Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Jharkhand need to ramp-up their vaccination drive. Vaccination remains the key guard against any prospective future waves and the coverage of the population needs to be enhanced across all States,” it said.

The report said that by June-end, 78 per cent of districts achieved Covid-19 test positivity rate below 5 per cent, thereby fostering conditions conducive for easing of restrictions and restoration of economic activities.

Buffering the third wave

Further it mentioned that there have been various predictions/estimations of a third wave in India. However, the emergence of a third wave could be significantly buffered by expanding vaccination and meticulous observation of Covid-appropriate behaviour along with social distancing measures.

“Maintaining a rapid pace of the vaccination drive and quickly bridging health care infrastructure gaps across both urban and rural areas would emerge as the most sustainable stimulus for durable recovery of the Indian economy,” it said.

Highlighting the overall economy, the report said that resilient tax collections of the Central Government in the first two months of FY2020-21 and sustained momentum in capital expenditure, particularly in the road and rail sector, augurs well for pivoting targeted fiscal support for continued economic recovery. The recently announced economic relief package is expected to further oil the wheels of the capex cycle via implementation of the PLI scheme and streamlining of processes for PPP Projects and asset monetisation.

“Consumption sentiment is expected to pick up with further enhancement of employment support under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana (ANBRY) and wider BharatNet digitisation coverage. Free food-grain and enhanced fertiliser subsidies under the package along with continued MGNREGA implementation, on the other hand, would serve as a cushion for rural demand in the coming quarters,” it said.

Published on July 9, 2021