NEW DELHI – Indian vaccinations against Covid-19 have faced early problems as fewer people than expected have turned up for the shootings, putting the country far behind the pace it needs to reach its inoculation target. of 300 million by August.
Participation at a lower than expected level seems to be caused both by technical problems with the application, which notifies people when it is their turn, and by fears about the safety of vaccines that have been developed and approved in an accelerated schedule.
The country gave about 1.5 million people its first blows since Saturday, a week after the launch of the effort. This is an average of about 200,000 a day. It should manage 1.3 million a day to reach its August target.
India has more government experience in vaccination and production capacity than most countries and has warned that the campaign will start slowly. But in the first week, 40% fewer people showed up for the photos than expected.
Government officials say they are still working on the blockades, but the low early presence of health workers – the first to be vaccinated – suggests a much longer timeline than expected to protect the population through vaccinations.