Fact-check: How many Indians have actually been vaccinated?

Almost 1.5 crore people in Uttar Pradesh have been administered the COVID-19 vaccine, read a May 17, 2021 press note released by the Press Information Bureau on how public health emergency response strategies are yielding results in the state.

This is misleading. While around 1.5 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the state, the beneficiary count is not 1.5 crore. This is because around 1.2 crore people have received their first dose and, of these, around 32 lakh got the second dose as well. So the number of people who have received vaccine jabs is essentially still 1.2 crore. Since one can only take the second dose after they have taken the first dose, the people receiving the second jab should be counted for the dose and not as another person receiving vaccine.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath had also made a similar statement on May 13. He had said that around 1.45 crore people in the age group of 45+ had been vaccinated, when the count for first dose stood at 1.15 crore in the state.   

More than 1.45 crore people in the age group of 45+ have been vaccinated. This was done through the free vaccines provided by Govt of India. Even the state government is committed to provide free vaccines to everyone in the age group of 18 to 44 years, free of cost: UP CM pic.twitter.com/d2Z1ErM6Fj

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 13, 2021

Other states too have made such claims. Another example is Maharashtra. The state just claimed that it "has so far vaccinated more than 2 crore beneficiaries". When the data, according to the Co-WIN dashboard, shows that more than 2 crore vaccine doses have been administered, which includes 1.58 crore people who got the first dose and of them, 42 lakh who got the second jab too.

BJP State General Secretary Andhra Pradesh S Vishnu Vardhan Reddy tweeted on May 17 that till date more than 18 crore Indians have been vaccinated. But, according to Co-Win dashboard, 14.4 crore Indians have received the first dose and of these, 4 crore have got the second one too.

In fact, in a graph tweeted by Amitabh Dubey, President, All India Professionals' Congress, the total number of doses administered is shown as population vaccinated and is compared against the projected eligible population of the state.

While the tweet is to show how "Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have vaccinated a higher percentage of their population than most BJP states", but the calculation doesn't take in to consideration that those who got the second dose are being counted twice.

-Till date we have vaccinated 18cr+ Indians
-Free vaccines for 45+ age group
-Free ration to 80cr+ people for months

This was possible just because of our PM Shri @narendramodi ji.#WeAreWithYouPmModiJi

— S.Vishnu Vardhan Reddy (@SVishnuReddy) May 17, 2021

Media reports too haven't been behind on this miscalculation. On May 10, Patrika published a report and IANS tweeted saying 20% of Rajasthan's population had been vaccinated. They also claimed that number of total doses administered (1.41 crore) were the number of people vaccinated.

Clear repudiation of the "vaccine hesitancy" allegation against @INCIndia.

Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have vaccinated a higher %age of their population than most BJP states. Punjab is also above the national average.

BJP should focus more on its laggards, less on propaganda. pic.twitter.com/X3zpfyiudu

— Amitabh Dubey (@dubeyamitabh) May 16, 2021

The state's projected population is around 7 crore, according to a report by the National Commission of Population.

Amid the nation-wide surge in #COVID19 cases comes a good news from the desert state. Every fifth person in #Rajasthan has been vaccinated making it the first state of the country to achieve this.#COVID19Vaccination #COVID19India pic.twitter.com/WRwwZo193y

— IANS Tweets (@ians_india) May 10, 2021