COVID 1st dose: Govt sets Nov 30 as deadline for all adults

As India moves ahead to increase COVID-19 vaccination coverage, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday reviewed the current immunisation status with the Health Ministers of several states and Union Territories. According to sources, the Union ministry shared a detailed presentation on the latest report card on vaccination, reflecting the challenges and major asks.

As per the data mapped by the Centre, there are 109.08 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine that have been administered in the country so far, sources said. Of these, 74.22 crore are first doses and 34.86 crore are second, which points to the huge gap between the two doses.

Highlighting the percentages, sources said 79 percent of the adult population in the country has been administered the first dose whereas only 37.1 percent have taken the second dose, which is a cause of concern.

Due to the huge gap between first and second dose coverage, Union Health Minster Mansukh Mandaviya has set a deadline of November 30 for states to complete 100 percent coverage of the first dose of all adults and ensure all those due for the second dose are immunised by that date, sources said. However, experts see this as a tall ask.

“There are only three states that have fared better than the pan-India average of administering the first dose,” sources said. Madhya Pradesh has given the first dose of the jab to 91 percent of its adult population followed by Assam with 86 percent coverage and West Bengal with 81 percent adults covered with the first dose.

With regards to the second dose, there are four states that have fared better in terms of the second dose coverage as compared to pan-India coverage of only 37 percent. These states include Arunachal Pradesh (55 percent), MP (40 percent), Chhattisgarh (39 percent) and Assam (37 percent), they said.

Apart from the nationwide “Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign, which will go on till November 30, Mandaviya has also suggested that states set up vaccination centres at bus stations, railway stations etc., especially in metros, as these are the primary points for a large number of people entering the city.

He also told states to ensure there is no laxity post-vaccination because COVID-19 cases are on the rise globally. “In Singapore, Britain, Russia and China cases are rising again despite more than 80 percent vaccination,” Health Ministry said in a statement post the review.

According to sources, another area of concern flagged by the Health Minister was the expiry of vaccine doses. His ministry has asked states to first use the early expiry doses in the immunisation drive and use the formula of “Early Expiry First Out along with a rigorous monitoring of expiry date as the country can not afford to waste even a single covid vaccine dose,” sources added.

It must be noted that the Indian drug controller has from time to time increased the shelf life of vaccine doses to avoid the concerns of doses getting wasted because of the early expiry date. For Covishield, the expiry time has been increased from six months to nine months and for Covaxin, the shelf life has been extended from nine months to 12 months. To watch out for is how the vaccination drive proceeds in the coming weeks. CNBCTV18