BackIndia will have 12 crore COVID vaccine doses available in June, says govt
Till now, India has administered 212 million doses. However, only about 3% of the population received both the dosesThe allocation of supplies to states and union territories is decided on the consumption pattern, population and vaccine wastage, centre said
PremiumAmid the concerns regarding shortage of COVID vaccines, the Centre on Sunday said India will have nearly 12 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines available for domestic use in June. This is a significant jump from the 79.4 million doses that were available in May.
Till now, India has administered 212 million doses, the most after China and the United States. However, only about 3% of the population received both the doses.
In a statement, the union health ministry on Sunday said the allocation of supplies to states and union territories is decided on the consumption pattern, population and vaccine wastage.
"Visibility for availability of vaccines for the entire month of June 2021 has been provided well in advance to States/UTs...," it said.
"For the month of June, 6.09 crore (6,09,60,000) doses of COVID vaccines will be supplied to the States and UTs for vaccination of priority group of Health Care Workers (HCWs), Front-Line Workers (FLWs) and person aged 45 years and above as free supply from Government of India," the ministry said.
"In addition, more than 5.86 crore (5,86,10,000) doses will be available for direct procurement by the state/UTs and Private Hospitals. Therefore, in June 2021 close to 12 crore (11,95,70,000) doses will be available for the national COVID vaccination programme," it said.
SII and Bharat Biotech to increase supply in coming months
Serum Institute of India (SII) on Sunday informed the government that it will be able to supply about 10 crore doses of Covishield in June.
Prakash Kumar Singh, the Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII, said in a letter, "We are pleased to inform that in the month of June we will be able to manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of our Covishield vaccine to the country as compared to our production capacity of 6.5 crore doses in May."
"Serum Institute of India has always been sincerely concerned about the protection of the citizens of our country and world at large from COVID-19. Under the leadership of our CEO, Adar C Poonawalla, our team have been working relentlessly shoulder to shoulder with our government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic," he said in the letter.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry on Friday informed that production of Bharat Biotech's COVIXIN jabs will increase significantly in the coming months.
The production capacity of Covaxin will be doubled by May-June and then increased nearly six-seven fold by July-August 2021, i.e. increasing the production from 1 crore vaccine doses in April to 6-7 crore vaccine doses/month in July- August.
"It is expected to reach nearly 10 crore doses per month by September 2021," a statement said.
India will be able to vaccinate adult population by December: Centre
Last week, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan announced that more than 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines will likely be available in India between August to December this year. Further he had said that the country will be in a position to vaccinate at least all of its adult population by the end of 2021.
During a COVID review meeting, the Union Minister said, "Between August and December 2021, India will have procured 216 crore vaccine doses, while by July this year, 51 crore doses will be procured."
The country has recently begun to roll out Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, alongside the AstraZeneca vaccine produced locally at the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Covaxin made by local firm Bharat Biotech.
(With inputs from agencies)
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