Centre directs the states to lower the wastage of Covid vaccines

New Delhi: On Wednesday, the Centre has requested all the states to reduce the wastage and cleverly utilise the Covid-19 doses of the vaccines as these are deemed to be the most ‘invaluable commodities’ right now.

In India the average wastage of Covid -19 vaccine is estimated to be 6.5% while states like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir accounts for the maximum wastage, that range within 6.6% to 17%.

Rajesh Bhushan, the Health Secretary stated, “Vaccines are invaluable commodities. They are public health goods and therefore vaccines have to be optimally utilized. Vaccine wastage has to be drastically reduced. Any reduction in wastage means that you end up inoculating more people and therefore the chances of disrupting the chain of infection grow that much more”.

The small states like Himachal Pradesh,  Uttarakhand and Tripura has recorded the lowest amount of wastage, according to a health ministry data, recording an amount of 1.4%, 1.6% and 2.2% respectively. The highest amount of vaccine wasted is recorded at Telangana (17.6%) and Andhra Pradesh (11.6%).

As of now, the states all across the country have been provided with 7.54 crore doses of the vaccines. Out of this, more than 3.51 crore doses have been monitored on Wednesday until 9am.

Bhushan ensured that there is no dearth in the supply of vaccine in the country and the government is regularly administering the availability of the vaccines in the states.

According to Bhushan, in the midst of concern regarding the huge supply of vaccines to other countries, India has not yet allowed the sale of vaccines in the private market or even expand the cover. The international commitments with global organisations have driven the export. These organisations have provided funds for the development and manufacture of vaccines in India.