Nine States And A UT Continue To Report Vaccine Wastage Higher Than National Average Of 3.06 Per Cent

As many as nine States and a Union Territory (UT) continue to report a higher wastage of COVID-19 vaccines than the national average at a time when the nation as a whole has been facing a significant shortage of supplies compared to the demand and need, reports Economic Times.

While the national average of vaccine wastage stands at 3.06 per cent, States like Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Punjab continue to report significantly higher wastage. Other such States include Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and also the UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Among these States, Haryana is recording the highest vaccine wastage at 6.49 per cent. Interestingly, the State Government has attributed this to hesitancy and deployment of the Covaxin vaccine. It has reasoned that Covaxin is supplied in vials carrying 20 doses each and that once a vial is opened, it needs to be used within four hours or the doses get wasted.

At an all India level, the wastage of Covaxin stands at 6 per cent and the wastage of Covishield stands at one per cent. This is significantly lower than 16 per cent and six per cent wastage which was being recorded for the respective vaccines earlier.

Meanwhile, it should also be noted that Tamil Nadu, which had earlier been registering a staggering 10 per cent of vaccine wastage has recently brought down the wastage to 4.13 per cent.