India’s vaccination drive reflects rural-urban disparities

In most states, the vaccination coverage in their capital cities is much higher than in other parts. An analysis by India Today’s Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) shows that vaccination in the rural parts of the country trails urban areas.

Of the eight districts that have bettered Maharashtra’s immunization average so far, three are big urban centers of Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur. The laggards include predominantly rural districts like Nanded and Hingoli. Data show the proportion of the population receiving at least one dose in Mumbai is nearly four times of Hingoli. In other words, the pace of vaccination in Hingoli is one-fourth of that in Mumbai.