OVER 16 MILLION DOSES OF 240MN PROVIDED LEFT WITH STATES, UTS, SAYS CENTRE

More than 16 million Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories to be administered to beneficiaries, the Union health ministry said on Sunday.

The Centre has so far provided, both through the free of cost and through direct state procurement categories, more than 240 million vaccine doses (246,080,900) to the states and UTS.

Of this, the total consumption, including wastages is 229,695,199 doses, the ministry said.

“A total of 1,63,85,701 COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTS to be administered,” it said.

A total of 231,322,417 vaccine doses have been administered through 3,242,503 sessions across the country, as per the provisional report till 7 am.

The central government has faced mounting criticism for its failure to secure vaccines for the country’s people as a devastating second wave rips through the vast hinterland. India is the largest manufacturer of vaccines.

The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly deflected criticism, releasing a document last month that rebutted what it said were “myths”. It said the government has been “engaged continuously” vaccine-makers since mid-2020 but the companies had their own “priorities, gameplans and compulsions in allocation finite stocks”.

Union minister of state for home affairs, G Kishan Reddy, said last week that the government is working to import vaccines and that it should not be into a political issue.