Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and RS Sharma, CEO of National Health Authority who supervises the Co-win system, reviewed readiness with states and UT and said there was no shortage of vaccines and urged that private hospitals should be quickly provisioned with stocks to encourage vaccination.
The Center assured states that it will continually replenish stocks based on consumer trends. “There is no value in keeping vaccines for the second dose and states must quickly supply vaccines to all public and private hospitals where there is demand,” Sharma told the states. After a weekend and Holi, on March 30, about 20 lakhs of shots were delivered.
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The Center said efforts should be made to keep vaccine waste below 1% and regularly review injection use. Currently, the average waste is pegged at 6%.
States have also been asked to ensure that there is no accumulation of vaccine stocks at any storage level, distribution is based on consumption to avoid overstocking or understocking at points in the cold chain, and Covid Vaccination Centers (CVCs) and to conduct regular review of vaccine stocks to identify deficient areas and address them quickly.
The Center highlighted the need to involve more private hospitals. On Wednesday, only 6,457 vaccination sessions were in private facilities, while 42,502 were in government hospitals.
Until 7 p.m. Wednesday, doses of 6.4 crore vaccine were administered in the country. Of this, more than 3 million rupees were the first doses for people over 60 years old, while 76.7 million people between 45 and 60 with comorbidities received the vaccine. Around 92.6 lakh people were fully vaccinated with two doses by 7pm on Wednesday.
The government expects an increase in the numbers from April 1, when all those over the age of 45, regardless of comorbidities, will be eligible for vaccination against Covid-19. While registration for vaccination will be available both online and on site, those who choose to register on site will need to do so after 3 p.m.
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