Between May 1 and July 13, over 41 lakh extra Covid-19 vaccine doses were extracted by the states, while Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Gujarat performed the best, data by the Health Ministry showed. On the contrary, Bihar accounted for half of the 2.5 lakh doses wasted across the country.
Tamil Nadu extracted 5.88 lakh extra doses followed by West Bengal with 4.87 lakh extra doses and Gujarat with 4.62 lakh extra doses. The maximum wastage of doses was reported in Bihar at 1.26 lakh doses, which is half of the national wastage of jabs across the country. Each vial of the Covid-19 vaccine contains quantity enough for 10 doses but states were able to extract extra doses from a vial.
A total of Rs 9,725.15 crore has been spent so far on the national Covid-19 vaccination programme including procurement of vaccines (Rs 8,071 crore) and operational cost for vaccination out of the total budget outlay of Rs 35,000 crore, the government said to a question posed by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
The government added, it has placed orders for supply of 100.6 crore doses up to December 2021. “Between August to December 2021, 135 crore doses are expected to be available,” the government said.
The government further replied to Rahul Gandhi that it was expected that beneficiaries aged 18 years and above will be vaccinated by December 2021 but said no fixed timeline at present can be indicated for the completion of vaccination drive given the dynamic and evolving nature of the pandemic.
“There has been no delay in entering into purchase agreements with the domestic vaccine manufacturers. Advance payments have been made to manufacturers for supply orders placed with them,” the government said.
Out of the orders for 100.6 crore doses for Covid-19 vaccines, orders for 64.1 crore vaccines have been placed for Covishield and 36.5 crore for Covaxin. “A total of 3.84 crore doses of Covaxin from the order dated May 5, 2021, are still being delivered,” the government said, saying as, on July 20, 2021, a total of 42.52 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin have been supplied for COVID-19 vaccination drive in India.
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