Data: Where States Stand In The Covid-19 Vaccination Drive

As the second wave of the coronavirus devastates the country, several states have been reporting vaccine shortages, claiming that their stocks are running out.

However, latest data shows that the states have around 13 million Covid-19 vaccine doses in their possession. These stocks include about 7.8 million doses of Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and around 5.7 million doses of Covaxin, the vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech.

Until 18 April, the Narendra Modi government had supplied about 144 million doses of these vaccines to the states and Union territories (UTs). Around 127 million of these were Covishield doses and 17 million were doses of Covaxin.

“There is no shortage of vaccines and the government of India gives vaccines to every state. It is the job of states to provide vaccine doses at the vaccination centres in a time-bound manner with meticulous planning,” Health Minister Harsha Vardhan said last week, urging state governments to put an end to “fear-mongering”.

States and UTs have consumed a total of 123 million doses of vaccines (of the 144 million supplied by the Centre) since the vaccination drive was launched in January this year. About 110 million doses of Covishield and 11 million doses of Covaxin have been consumed by the states and UTs so far.

Large states, including Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, have reported significant wastage of vaccine doses. Wastage in Tamil Nadu and Haryana is as high has 11.03 per cent and 10.50 per cent respectively.

About 10 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines are currently in the pipeline for supply to states and UTs over the next few weeks.

Amid rising infections throughout the country, the Centre has asked state governments to ensure that the restrictions on movement imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19 do not adversely affect the vaccination effort.

However, India’s vaccination drive slowed down in comparison to the 12th week of vaccinations (3-9 April), when about 22.6 million Indians got their first dose, the highest so far. In the following week, this number came down to around 18.6 million.

Many small states, including Sikkim and Tripura, have given the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine to over 50 per cent of their eligible population or persons above the age of 45. Larger states, including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, have also vaccinated over 40 per cent of their eligible population.

Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have given the first dose of vaccine to 24 per cent and 15 per cent of their eligible populations respectively.

Punjab, Bihar and Assam have given the first dose of vaccine to 18 per cent, 16 per cent and 13 per cent of their eligible populations respectively.

According to the latest data, India has administered over 12 crore doses so far. India started its vaccination drive on 16 January and reached the 100 million mark in 85 days, faster than the US and China, which took 89 and 102 days respectively.

Until now, over 1.12 crore frontline workers have got their first dose and around 55 lakh have received their second dose. Around 4.04 crore people between the ages of 45 and 60 have received the first dose and more than 10 lakh have got their second dose. Over 4.55 crore people above the age of 60 have got their first dose and more than 38 lakh have received their second dose.