July saw 20 per cent fewer vaccinations than the month of June when 21.6 lakh doses were given. In July, 17.9 lakh doses were administered. Of these, seven lakh were second doses. While the state government had aimed to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the public before opening up further, the pace of vaccination has been slow.

The mass vaccination for those aged above 18 years was started in private hospitals in May. After the Supreme Court called vaccines being free to some and not to others as ‘arbitrary and irrational’, the central government announced free vaccines for those aged 18 to 44 years at public centres from June 21. Although the vaccination drive was to quicken after that, figures suggest the opposite.