New Delhi, May 23: The International Monetary Fund has warned that immunization coverage in India is expected to remain below 35% of the population by the end of 2021.

“The World Economic Outlook for April 2021 (IMF, 2021) predicted a dangerous divergence in the outlook between emerging and developing economy countries (excluding China) which are expected to experience a slower recovery and greater healing. This despite the fact that the pandemic had on average hit advanced economies harder and several developing countries with weak health systems had been spared the worst of the pandemic, ”the IMF said in its report.

“However, the ongoing catastrophic second wave in India, after a terrible wave in Brazil, is a sign that the worst may be yet to come in the developing world. While India’s healthcare system has weathered the first wave fairly well, this time around its healthcare system is so overwhelmed that many are dying due to a lack of medical supplies like oxygen, hospital beds. and medical care, ”according to the report by Gita Gopinath and Dit Ruchit Agarwal.

“Under the business-as-usual scenario, immunization coverage in India is expected to reach less than 35%. Other LMICs and high-income countries are expected to have coverage of around 50 percent and 70 percent, respectively, ”the report also states.

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