Over 16.42 crore COVID-19 vaccines lie unused with states

The Union Health Ministry said on Thursday said that more than 16.42 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and Union Territories for inoculation.

“More than 141.80 crore vaccine doses have been provided to them so far through the Government of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category,” the Union Ministry of Health said.

The ministry said that the Union government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country.

The ministry said that the vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, “advance visibility of vaccine availability” to states and Union Territories for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.

“As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the states and Union Territories by providing them COVID-19 vaccines free of cost,” the ministry said.

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Meanwhile, the cumulative doses administered in the country under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 135.25 crore.

India added 7,974 new COVID-19 cases and 343 fresh COVID-19 fatalities on Wednesday, taking the total tally to 3,47,18,602 and the total death toll to 4,76,478.

The active cases in the country declined to 87,245, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

(With inputs from Agencies)