Over 12.14 million unutilized COVID-19 vaccination doses still accessible with states & UTs

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare notified the States and UTs on Saturday that around 12.14 crore balance and unutilized COVID-19 vaccination doses are still available for administration.

The ministry also stated that 1,93,53,58,865 vaccination doses have been distributed to states and UTs so far through the free channel and the direct state procurement category. “More than 12.14 Cr (12,14,44,440) balance and unutilized COVID Vaccine doses are still available for administration with the States/UTs,” it stated.

The Central Government is dedicated to speeding up and broadening the scope of COVID-19 vaccination across the country.

The national COVID-19 vaccine campaign began on January 16, 2021.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccine universalization began on June 21, 2021.

Also Read: Lancet study: Covid vaccines may have prevented 42 lakh deaths in India in 2021

The vaccination campaign has been stepped up with the availability of additional vaccinations, advance awareness of vaccine availability to states and UTs for improved planning, and simplification of the vaccine supply chain.

As part of the statewide vaccination campaign, the Government of India has been supplying free COVID vaccines to states and union territories.

In the next phase of the COVID19 vaccination programme, the Union Government would acquire and deliver (at no cost) to States and UTs 75% of the vaccines manufactured in the country by vaccine makers.

However, in the previous 24 hours, India reported 15,940 new cases and 20 deaths.

With this, India’s active cases have increased to 91,779, with a daily positive rate of 4.39 percent.

Meanwhile, according to the Lancet Infectious Diseases publication, the COVID-19 vaccination programme in India averted nearly 42 lakh fatalities in 2021, based on estimations of “excess” mortalities in the country during the pandemic.

According to a new forecast scheduled to be published in the Lancet journal on Friday, COVID-19 vaccination may have helped cut the number of fatalities worldwide by about a third, including by 2.7 million to 5.3 million in India.

After India reported the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the recent 100 days, a leading specialist stated that the increase in COVID-19 infections is not cause for alarm, but that the virus’s severity must be properly monitored.

According to Dr. Sanjay Rai, Senior Epidemiologist at AIIMS, the increase in COVID-19 cases is not a cause for alarm, but there is a need to actively monitor severity, mortality, and hospitalisation.

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