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The Union health ministry expressed concern that Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir were wasting the invaluable Covid vaccine, beyond the India’s average of 6.5 per cent. The wastage of Covid vaccine is specially more in the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it was registered in double digits.
“Vaccine wastage has to be drastically reduced. Any reduction in wastage means that it would result in inoculating more people, therefore the chances of disrupting the chain of infection grow that much more,” said Rajesh Bhushan, secretary of Health Ministry, during a press meet.
A vial of the Covid vaccine has a particular number of doses that need to be administered within a given time of opening it. Mismanagement of the vaccine vials at the cold storage or during transportation can also lead to wastage.
The Union health ministry, in its press release, said even Uttar Pradesh was wasting it most.
As per the data released by the ministry, Telangana has wasted 17.6 per cent of the vaccine given to the state, while Andhra Pradesh has allowed 11.6 per cent of the vaccine go waste and UP stands at 9.4 per cent.
These three states are followed by Karnataka which registered 6.9% wastage, close to India’s average.
MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat lauded
At the same time, the Centre lauded Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra for administering a good amount of vaccines till now.
Rajesh Bhushan also told the media that there was no dearth of Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
“The Centre has provided 7.54 crore vaccine doses to the states till now,” he said.
Further, the health ministry official said that India’s Covid vaccination drive was the fastest in the world. “The United States started vaccination on December 14 and has given the jab to 10 crore people. India started this process on January 16 and we have provided vaccine to 3.58 crore people.”
Rise in Covid cases
From March 1-15, about 70 districts in 16 states have registered more than 150 per cent increase in active cases, while 55 districts in 17 states have registered 100-150 per cent rise in cases. A majority of these districts are in West and North India.
Around 60 per cent of the cases are concentrated in Maharashtra and cases are rising in Telangana.
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