’11 crore missed second Covid vaccine dose’: Centre calls for meeting with state health ministers

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A whopping 11 crore people missing out or delaying their second dose of Covid vaccinations has prompted the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandwiya to convene a meeting of state health ministers to discuss the barriers in ensuring full coverage for all vaccine beneficiaries.

Over 76% of the adult population in the country has now received at least one shot of Covid vaccine but the percentage of people with full coverage is only a little above 32%.

The meeting on Wednesday comes even as the data by the Union health ministry shows that while over 107 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been supplied by the Centre to the states so far, over 12.37 crore balance and unutilized doses are still available with the states to be administered.

Sources in the Union health ministry said that even after the country reached a crucial milestone of administering 100 crore vaccine doses last week, the large number of people due for their second shots being left out has emerged as a major challenge for the government.

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The decision to call a meeting with the state11 health minister came three days after in a review meeting of Covid vaccination, health secretary Rajesh Bhushan had asked states to use a line-list of beneficiaries due for their second doses using the data available on CoWIN platform.

He had also suggested involving district magistrates in the exercise.

“The secretary noted that the detailed line-lists of due beneficiaries can be utilized for preparing a district-wise second dose administration plan involving the district magistrate for execution in a time-bound manner,” a statement by the ministry had said.

The states were also directed to review the progress of such district-wise plans daily, to ensure saturation of all eligible beneficiaries.

In addition, states were also advised to identify and prioritize districts with low vaccination coverage for focused action and explore requirements for mobilization efforts, addressing local challenges, the need for additional Covid vaccination centres and improving access in rural areas.