India makes Covid vaccination mandatory amid shortage of doses

After months of restricted access, Mumbai opened its local train network to all on August 15 – but with a condition. Travellers had to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Long queues snaked outside railway stations as counters opened on August 12 for commuters to get e-passes after getting their vaccine certificates verified. But within three days, the queues had reduced to a trickle.

At Andheri station on Monday, Nazim Khan, the municipal official appointed to verify the certificates, sat relaxed behind the counter. There were few takers for the passes. On Tuesday, the counter at Bandra station looked even more deserted – only 130 people had shown up until late afternoon to get their certificate verified.

Last year, after the pandemic struck and a nationwide lockdown came into place, Mumbai locals come to a grinding halt. Three months later, they gradually resumed service, but only for essential workers like government employees, health workers, police and banking staff. The daily footfall on the trains drastically dropped from the pre-pandemic level of 70-80 lakh commuters to about 35 lakh.

This number is unlikely to go up soon, given the mandatory vaccination rule for ordinary commuters – essential workers can still travel unvaccinated. Across Mumbai, only 1.65 lakh railway passes had been issued till August 17.

“It is known there is a vaccine inequity,” said economist R Ramakumar, professor at the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. “Those who rely on public transport are people from lower and middle income groups, and they are unlikely to have got their vaccines.”

So far, Mumbai has fully immunised 20.6 lakh people, about 17% of its population. Apart from trains, Maharashtra has also made full vaccination mandatory for staff working in malls and restaurants, and visitors to malls.

“It seems that the government is treading cautiously from a public health perspective. They want to open up but also discourage crowding,” Ramakumar said. “But it must be known how the two-dose policy for trains or malls was decided, were public health experts taken into discussion?”

Dr Rahul Pandit, a member of the Maharashtra Task Force for Covid-19, said the task force had advised the government that “safest way for people to visit office or travel is to be fully vaccinated”. “It is upto the government to take the final call. We did not specifically recommend anything about local trains,” he said. Aseem Gupta, principal secretary in the Rehabilitation and Relief department, said the decision was prompted by concerns about virus spread through train travel. “Though we know vaccinated people can carry the virus, but at least they are safer from its impact,” he said.

“There is no way we can continue to stifle the economy, not allowing trains is not an option economically, thus allowing vaccinated population to board is a rational decision,” he added. State policies for public access Maharashtra is not the only state that has made access to both public and private services contingent on Covid-19 vaccination. At least six other states have mandated either a single or double vaccine dose for entry into schools, colleges, restaurants, malls or parks.

Karnataka announced that schools will reopen for students of Class 9-12 from August 23 in districts with less than 2% positivity rate, but only teachers who have taken at least one vaccine dose can attend. Of the estimated 6.84 crore state population, 2.7 crore have got at least the first dose.

In Odisha, malls, cinema halls and theatres have opened, but people above 18 years have to produce full immunisation certificates to access these facilities in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, where Covid-19 cases remain high. Bhubaneshwar has covered about 99% population with both doses, based on 2011 census population data; Puri has managed to immunise 1.66 lakh of 2.5 lakh population with both doses; and Cuttack has immunised 

In July, Gujarat government announced that people working in hotels, malls, shops, salons and restaurants are required to get their first vaccine dose by July 31. Till August 17, about 3.1 crore people had received their first jab against an estimated total population of 6.4 crore.

Rajasthan has decided to open schools for Classes 9-12 from September 1 and mandated that school staff must attend only if they have taken at least the first dose 14 days prior to school reopening. In addition, people visiting cinemas and theatres are mandated to have taken at least one vaccine dose. The state’s vaccination coverage is slow: 2.9 crore adults have received their first dose out of a total estimated population of 7.8 crore.

Impact on businesses

Over 55 crore vaccine doses have been administered in India, with 13% adults across India receiving both the doses. As on August 18, 18.62 lakh doses are in pipeline for supply and 94 lakh doses are in stock with states and private hospitals. But the 94 lakh doses have not percolated down to all municipal corporations and rural areas. A shortage of vaccine doses has slowed vaccination coverage across the country.

In August alone, government centres in Mumbai functioned for eight of 16 days due to limited stock. Even in neighbouring Thane, vaccines have not reached local communities in rural areas, said Rajesh Ghanghav, president of Kalyan Kasara Karjat Railway Passenger Association, which represents train commuters from these areas. “Even these people need to commute in local trains. We have asked railway authorities to allow passengers who took a single dose to travel,” he said.

Uday Shetty, member of Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association, said his staff in a restaurant in the suburb of Ghatkopar in Mumbai have not been able to get vaccines in local government centres. “Government should look at vaccine availability before introducing such norms,” he said.

Shridhar Manickan, operations manager in a private cafe chain in Mumbai and Pune, said, “All our staffers have received their first dose, it is not possible to immediately give them a second dose. Vaccines are also not easily available.”

* Tabassum Barnagarwala covers health, women and child development, and rural development for The Indian Express