Urban India leaves rural way behind as vaccinations surge 44% nationwide

This is despite the prevalence of a much larger population in the country's villages and a greater number of vaccination centres in these areas, compared to urban

Urban Indians are leaving those in rural areas behind in the recent vaccination surge.

Vaccinations are up 44 per cent overall since mid-December, a little before the surge in China’s cases attracted global attention. Urban vaccinations are up 126.7 per cent to 222,000 on a weekly basis since December 14, according to an analysis of government data. Rural vaccinations have risen 3.7 per cent to a weekly figure of 208,000 in the same period. Around 65 per cent of India’s population lives in rural areas as of 2021, according to World Bank estimates.

The analysis looked at data from the CoWin portal from December 14 to January 3, using the latest available numbers as of Wednesday. It showed that urban vaccinations had been significantly lower than rural vaccinations earlier last month. Urban India accounted for less than 100,000 weekly vaccinations in the third week of December compared to around 222,000 in rural areas. The rural vaccination rate has since continued at a similar pace, but urban numbers show a spike around Christmas.

They overtook rural vaccinations on December 26. They touched a peak of 342,000 urban vaccinations on December 28th. The pace has since moderated for both rural and urban vaccinations. However, urban vaccinations remained higher than in rural areas (chart 1).

Official sources in the Health Ministry said that there are more vaccination centres in rural areas than urban, but states must be distributing vaccines based on demand.

Demand certainly has risen in urban areas, thanks to more awareness about the global situation. Speaking to Business Standard, public health policy expert Dilip Mavlankar said that the key reason behind the rise in the vaccination rate during the past few weeks is the concern around the global surge in cases. "In urban areas people are more likely to contract the new variants in circulation as entry of international passengers happens through major cities. This is a major reason why people are now trying to take their booster doses," he said, adding that many people have friends and relatives overseas who have taken their second and third boosters.

"This is why now there is this buzz around whether India should allow a second booster shot. It's because these people are comparing with the global experience," Mavlankar said.

The third dose accounted for much of the increase in vaccinations since December. Precaution doses accounted for 60.7 per cent of vaccinations given as of the week ending December 14. This has increased to 73.6 per cent of vaccinations as of the seven days ending January 3.  There were 317,000 weekly precaution doses on a weekly basis as per the latest data. First and second doses together accounted for little over 113,000 weekly doses (chart 2).

The rush for precautionary doses comes even as India’s booster coverage remains lower than most other countries. The number of third dose vaccinations given in India is equivalent to 15.7 per cent of its population. It is 56.98 per cent in Brazil, 13.49 per cent in Russia, 57.21 per cent in China and 33.64 for the world overall.

China stopped reporting daily cases after confirming that it had detected 37 million daily cases towards the end of December.