Covid-19 Vaccine: Centre To Urge States To Focus On 10 Crore People Overdue For Second Jab, Nearly 13 Crore Unutilised Doses With States

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will meet the state health ministers today (Oct 27) to discuss strategies to scale up COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country with a special focus on expediting the second dose of jab for those partially vaccinated, The Economic Times reported.

As per the report, the Union health ministry is also expected to flag the possibility of increase in Covid-19 cases around festival time and discuss on Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission launched on Monday by PM Narendra Modi that aims to further enhance health infrastructure.

A new subvariant of the Covid-19 virus that was first detected in United Kingdom and currently being examined by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is also likely to come for the discussion

As per estimates by Union Health Ministry, there are at least 10 crore vaccine beneficiaries who have missed their scheduled second dose and state governments will be asked to focus on completing the double dose.

While over 75% of India's eligible adult population has received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, the fully vaccinated adult population is little over 33%.

The gap between two doses of Covishield, which comprises 88% of the administered vaccines in India, is currently 12-16 weeks

More than 12.75 crore balance and unutilised doses of Covid-19 vaccines are available with the states. The Union government has provided more than 107.22 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses to states and union territories so far

As per the latest data released by the Union health ministry, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 103 crore (1.03 billion). "India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 103 crore landmark milestone (1,03,48,36,594) today. More than 51 lakh (51,56,054) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm on October 26," the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated in its release.

India achieved the milestone of administering 100 crore doses on October 21, 2021.