English Article

Vaccine Optimism

With infections subsiding – new case additions have touched a seven-month low – and easing of restrictions on activities, there has been an improvement in most high frequency economic indicators over the past several weeks.

Administering of 100 crore vaccines is a major milestone in India’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic – it is also consequential for the economy. With more than 70 per cent of the adult population in the country now having received at least a single jab, and around 30 per cent of those eligible having received both jabs, fear is slowly abating, reviving spirits, triggering a change in outlook. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi put it in his address to the nation on Friday, a sense of optimism is coming back.

Vaccinations, after all, not only reduce demands on the health system, they also impart a positive impulse through both demand and supply side channels.