Cambodia, Maldives and Mongolia administered at least 130 doses per 100 inhabitants, due to bilateral agreements with high-income countries such as the United States, China and Japan. Cambodia, one of the poorest countries in Asia, has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. While he received 324,000 doses of Covax in March, his vaccination was primarily driven by China’s 27 million doses of Sinovac. The country has fully vaccinated 76.8% of its 16.7 million people, more than wealthier countries like Canada (73.7%) and South Korea (71%).
In contrast, Ghana, which received the first shipment of Covax on February 24, has so far administered only 8.6 doses per 100 people. African countries, which make up a third of the Covax membership list, have given an average of less than 15 doses per 100 inhabitants. Cameroon, Niger and Ethiopia, which depended exclusively on the initiative, administered less than 4 doses per 100 inhabitants.
In the grip of supply constraints, Covax last month slashed its target by 25% to deliver nearly 1.43 billion doses by the end of 2021. Even that could be difficult unless supply n ‘increases. As of October 27, 727 million doses have been allocated, and only 417 million doses have been released for shipment to member countries.
Gear switch
India has stepped up its vaccination pace over the past seven days, after three weeks of slow progress. It averaged 6 million doses per day last week, up from 5.3 million the week before. The country has vaccinated 723 million people, or 52.8% of the population, with at least one dose.
Twelve states and union territories have passed the 1,000 doses per 1,000 people mark. Of these, five states have more than 10 million inhabitants. Himachal Pradesh continues to lead immunization coverage, with 1,212 doses per 1,000 people, followed by Gujarat (1,090), Delhi (1,083), Kerala (1,078) and Jammu and Kashmir ( 1059).
Ten states are behind the national average of 755 doses per 1,000 population. Four of them, Bihar, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Punjab, each reported less than 3% increase in cumulative coverage since last week.
In focus: West Bengal
West Bengal is seeing an increase in the number of covid-19 cases after lifting restrictions earlier this month for Durga Puja. The state has reported more than 6,000 cases, crossing the bar for the first time since the first week of July, and up 43.8% from last week.
About 67% of the state’s active cases are concentrated in five neighboring districts that make up the Metropolitan City of Kolkata: Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, and Hooghly. They represent nearly 43% of the state’s population and also witness the highest attendance during the festivities.
There is also a great variation in immunization coverage. While Howrah and Hooghly each gave at least 750 doses per 1,000 people, Kolkata and South 24 Parganas gave barely 500 doses. At 7.7% and 5.1%, Kolkata and Howrah had the highest test positivity rates, above the state average of 2%.
A dozen worries
India reported 106,567 new cases in the past seven days, down 2.4%. However, 12 states have reported an increase in cases, including seven of more than 100 cases each. Kerala accounted for 57% of the cases, but its tally has been down for seven weeks now.
In Assam and Himachal Pradesh, new infections have increased by more than 300. About 30% of new cases in Assam are concentrated in the metropolitan district of Kamrup. Kangra district accounted for 44% of new cases reported in Himachal Pradesh.
India’s covid death toll rose 2.6 times to 3,574 this week, mostly due to a Kerala reconciliation exercise.
As Diwali approaches, the risk of a resurgence of infections increases. Masking and social distancing will be key to reducing infections.
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