News Analysis India

Tag: COVID-19 Vaccines

  • Over 52 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses provided to states, UTs so far: Centre

    Of this, the total consumption including wastage is 50,32,77,942 doses.

  • Jharkhand urges Centre to allot 95 per cent of COVID-19 vaccines through government route

    By PTI
    RANCHI: Citing “challenging circumstances” in vaccinating its entire population amid limited availability of private hospitals, Jharkhand has once again urged the Centre to alter the ratio and allot at least 95 per cent of the COVID-19 shots through the government route.

    This comes close on heels of the Jharkhand government last month asserting that “artificial” tie-up of 25 per cent vaccination in private hospitals may result in many citizens missing the jabs and emphasising the need for reducing the allocation to private hospitals to 5 per cent from 25 per cent.

    “We have again requested the Centre to reduce the allocation to the private hospitals to 5 per cent as a major constraint in the state is limited availability of private hospitals to cater the rural and tribal population,” Additional Chief Secretary Health, Arun Kumar Singh told PTI.

    Private hospitals have made requisitions for procuring barely 1.20 lakh vaccine doses out of 8.28 lakh allocated for them for the month of July, he said, adding these requisitions came from hospitals in three districts only.

    The state government has been emphasising that the mandate for 75:25 allocation format of COVID vaccines to the government and the private institutions needs to be reconsidered keeping in view the doctrine of colourable legislation (What cannot be done directly, should also not be done indirectly).

    Singh in a letter to the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote: “This is to bring to your kind notice that in order to achieve 100 per cent vaccination, a major constraint in the state is limited availability of private hospitals to cater to rural and tribal population. It was requested to reduce the share of vaccination in private hospitals from 25% to 5% for the state of Jharkhand, against which, response is yet to be received.”

    Asserting that the state left no stone unturned in vaccinating eligible population in least time frame, Singh said private hospitals in the state have made request for procuring less than 15 per cent of the allocation earmarked for them for the month of July.

    He also mentioned that only 19 private health facilities from three districts have come forward for procurement out of 24 districts in the state.

    “As per allocation received from Government of India, 8,28,390 doses of COVID-19 vaccine are earmarked for private hospitals for the month of July 21. Against the aforementioned allocation, till date, requests from only 19 private facilities across 3 out of 24 districts of the state have been received from procurement of vaccines aggregating only 1,20,600 doses for the month of July which is less than 15% of the quantity earmarked by Government of India,” the letter mentions.

    The state urged the Centre to correct the anomaly expeditiously to facilitate total vaccination of all the eligible beneficiaries.

    “In light of the above facts and challenging circumstances, it is once again requested to reduce the share of vaccination in private hospitals and allocate 95% vaccines to the state of Jharkhand from the government route to enable equitable distribution of vaccines,” the letter said.

    The state government has earlier pleaded that its more than 75 per cent population living in the rural areas have negligible reach to private hospitals.

    Earlier, the Odisha government had also sought tweaking the share of vaccines to 95:5.

    The state had said, even in cities where private hospitals are available, on account of lack of purchasing parity, demand for COVID-19 vaccine on payment basis is very limited as Below Poverty Line (BPL) population across the state is more than 37 per cent.

    It said the overall objective of the government is to achieve 100 per cent vaccination, leaving no one behind, at the least possible time frame.

    The revised guidelines for implementation of the National COVID Vaccination Programme issued by the Government of India states that vaccine manufacturers shall provide 25 per cent of the production to private hospitals who can administer the vaccine on payment of vaccine purchase price and applicable service charge per dose.

    In Jharkhand of the 24 districts in the state, 13 districts are notified as Tribal districts and 19 districts are listed as Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts wherein hesitancy in vaccination has been a key challenge in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive.

  • Clinical trial for Covid vaccines for children on verge of completion: Centre to HC

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Friday said it would be a “disaster” if COVID-19 vaccines are administered, especially to children, without clinical trials and asked the Centre that it should take steps to quickly vaccinate kids of below 18 years of age once the trials are over as the whole nation is waiting for it.

    The court was informed by the Centre that clinical trials for the vaccines for children under 18 years of age are going on and on the verge of completion and that a policy will be formed by the government and children will be vaccinated when experts give permission.

    “Let the trials be done, otherwise it would be a disaster if vaccines are administered without trials that too in case of children,” a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh observed.

    “Once trials are over, you quickly apply to children.

    The whole country is waiting,” it added and listed the matter for further hearing on September 6.

    The high court was hearing a PIL filed on behalf of a minor which sought directions for the immediate vaccination of those in the 12-17 age group on the ground that there were fears a likely third wave of COVID-19 could affect them more.

    Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the Centre, said pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila which is developing DNA vaccines has concluded its clinical trial for between the age group of 12 to 18 years of age and subject to the statutory permission, the same may be available in near future for children of the age group of 12 to 18 years of age.

    The Centre, in the affidavit filed through standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, said vaccination is the top most priority of the government and all efforts are being made to achieve an objective of 100 per cent vaccination in the shortest time possible keeping the available resources in mind and availability of vaccine doses into consideration.

    It said from May 1, onwards under the new liberalised pricing and accelerated national COVID vaccination strategy, all citizens above the age of 18 years including parents of children who are residing in Delhi are already eligible for the vaccination.

    The Centre said on May 12, Drug Controller General of India has permitted Bharat Biotech to conduct clinical trials on the healthy volunteers between 2 to 18 years of age for its vaccine—Covaxin.

    Senior advocate Kailash Vasudev, representing the petitioner, said vaccines are being administered to children of the age group of 8 to 18 years in various countries and the court may ask the authorities to conclude the process in a time bound manner.

    To this, the bench said the government was saying that trials are going on and there cannot be a time bound schedule for a research.

    “They are only asking for a breathing time.

    Everybody is working,” the bench said, adding that looking into the stand taken by the Centre that the trials are going on and are at the verge of completion, list the petition on September 6.

    Meanwhile, the court disposed of another petition seeking to vaccinate class 10th and 12th students since they had to appear for board exams.

    The court noted that trials for vaccines for children are already going on and that the CBSE has cancelled the exams and now there are no offline mode of examination for students of class 10th and 12th this year.

    “Looking into these two facts… we see no reason to entertain this petition at this stage.

    Liberty is given to the petitioner to move an appropriate authority for the grievances in future,” the bench said.

    When the petitioner’s counsel said the children will need to appear for competitive exams, the bench said they can approach the court at that time.

    The first PIL was filed seeking directions for immediate vaccination of 12-17 year-old children on the ground that there was an apprehension that a likely third wave of COVID-19 could affect them more.

    The petition has also sought priority in vaccination to parents of children up to 17 years of age as several kids were orphaned after their parents succumbed to COVID-19 during the second wave.

    There are two petitioners in the matter — the first is a minor represented through her mother and the second is a mother of a minor child.

    The petition has claimed that according to the data of number of persons infected between April 2021 to May 2021, the number of reported cases where children were infected “has risen tremendously” than last year.

    It has alleged that the vaccine policy of India has failed to factor in children or parents of children for vaccination and the Centre and Delhi government have also failed to prepare a national plan for taking of the minors during the present pandemic.

    “That globally, countries have fully recognised the importance of vaccinating children, alongside adults, to curb, mitigate the ill effects of the present pandemic and have accordingly and effectively taken measures.

    “Vaccines for children are being produced and administered in countries such as Canada, United States of America (USA), for children between the ages of 12-17 years,” it has said.

  • Rajasthan not getting adequate supply of Covid vaccines: State health minister

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma said on Wednesday that while other states are being provided COVID-19 vaccines as per their demands, the state is not getting adequate supply.

    Sharma said that from June 21, the state has been completely dependent on the Centre for the availability of vaccines.

    “While vaccines are being provided to other states of the country as per their demands, Rajasthan is not getting vaccine in adequate supply,” he said.

    The minister said that 65 lakh Covid vaccine doses have been allocated to the state by the Centre for the month of July, whereas the state requires 75 lakh second doses alone.

    Equal amount is needed for administering the first dose to vaccinate more people.

    Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding about 1.5 crore doses.

    Sharma said that the new variant of coronavirus has increased the possibility of the infection.

    So, there is a need to speed up the vaccination process.

    He said that 11 patients infected with Kappa, a new variant of coronavirus, have been found in the state.

    Sharma said that although the Kappa is of a moderate intensity virus compared to the Delta and Delta Plus variants, but this variant can also be risky, if Covid protocol is not followed.

  • Congress alleges shortage of vaccines in states, says third COVID wave may hit India ‘very badly’

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday attacked the Centre over the “shortage” of COVID-19 vaccines and said the third wave of the pandemic may hit the country very badly due to the “slow” pace of vaccination and the government’s “failure”.

    Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the weekly pace of vaccinations has declined to nearly 60 percent of what was seen in the week after June 21.

    Rahul Gandhi, who has been persistently targeting the Centre over its handling of the pandemic, said there are “jumlas (rhetoric)” but no vaccines.

    “Jumle hain, vaccine nahin (There is rhetoric, no vaccines),” Gandhi tweeted using the hashtag ‘WhereAreVaccines’.

    Congress leader Jairam Ramesh pointed to complaints of shortage of vaccines in several states and urged the Modi government to double the vaccine procurement and allocate the same to states fairly.

    “Vaccine shortages are now hampering drives even in states friendly to Modi government – Odisha, Andhra and Telangana – in addition to states governed by Opposition.

    The only way forward is: Double vaccine procurement and allocate to states fairly and transparently,” Ramesh said.

    The two leaders pointed to the shortage of vaccines in several states including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha, Kerala and Delhi.

    “The Government led by PM Narendra Modi claimed that it will fully vaccinate all adults by year end. For that, 80 lakh doses need to be given daily. Yet, only 34 lakh doses are being given daily,” Kharge said in a series of tweets.

    “Thanks to Modi Government’s failure, the 3rd wave may hit India very badly,” he said.

    However, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday dismissed statements claiming shortage of vaccines, saying they are being made only to create panic among the people.

    He asserted that states know very well when and in what quantity they will get the doses.

    To enable vaccination through government and private hospitals, Mandaviya said, 11.46 crore vaccine doses were made available to the state governments and union territories in June and this availability has been increased to 13.50 crore in July.

    Hitting out at leaders who make statements that create confusion and concern in the media, he said they need to introspect whether they are so far removed from the governance process that they are not even aware of the information already being given in the context of vaccine supply.

    Kharge, however, claimed that the shortage of vaccines in several states has forced them to shut down vaccination centres.

    The Congress leader pointed out that Tamil Nadu has received only 1.67 crore doses of the two vaccines, against a demand of 11.5 crore doses and Maharashtra has administered 3.7 crore doses but the state government has passed a resolution demanding three crore doses per month to vaccinate enough people in the state.

    “Several COVID vaccination centres in Telangana have run out of Covaxin doses.

    “Kerala has the capacity to deliver 2.5-3 lakh doses per day but the huge supply-demand mismatch has reduced the pace of vaccination.24 of 30 districts have run out of vaccines in Odisha,” he noted.

    He claimed Delhi’s vaccine stock is so low that 500 centres had to be closed due to shortage.

    “The lack of sufficient doses of the vaccines has forced Andhra Pradesh to prioritise giving the second dose to the beneficiaries due to receive it by limiting giving the 1st dose to certain groups,” he claimed.

    In another tweet, Kharge cited a media report saying, “Reportedly, Gujaratis have mortgaged gold worth Rs 10,000 crores in the past 1.5 years.

    Families have had to pledge their gold to meet routine expenses, pay staff, pay medical bills and pay for weddings.”

    “PM Narendra Modi’s policies have destroyed India’s middle and lower income groups,” he alleged.

    The Congress has been critical of the government’s vaccination policy.

  • Vaccination drive moving at snail’s pace in Bengal due to irregular supply by Centre: Official

    Bengal, which has received 2.30 crore doses thus far, has vaccinated over 1.77 crore people with the first jab, and more than 62 lakh residents with both the shots, he noted.

  • Month on, India yet to get doses from US under its donation plan

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Even a month after the Joe Biden administration announced that it was donating 80 million doses to various countries, India is yet to receive Covid-19 vaccines from the US. However, countries such as Taiwan, Pakistan and Bangladesh have got their shipment of vaccines.

    Officials said conversations are on at many levels regarding the shipment but failed to provide a clear timeline and the number of vaccines that will be given to India. The 80 million doses that the US had decided to donate include vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca.

    India has cleared Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik and Moderna vaccines for emergency use, while Pfizer is yet to get approval from the Indian authorities. PM Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with US Vice-President Kamala Harris last month where the latter elaborated the Biden administration’s plans to donate the first tranche of 25 million of the 80 million doses.

    “Just like we have in our domestic response, we will move as expeditiously as possible, while abiding by the US and host country regulatory and legal requirements, to facilitate the safe and secure transport of vaccines across international borders. This will take time, but the president has directed the administration to use all the levers of the US to protect individuals from this virus as quickly as possible,” a White House statement, detailing plans of the vaccine donations, had said. 

    Officials believe that while the Centre is keen on the doses from the US, New Delhi’s domestic requirements would be met only if the vaccine manufacturing capacity is scaled up. 

  • Over 1.5 crore unutilised vaccine doses available with states: Centre

    According to the Union Health Ministry, the states will receive over 47 lakh additional doses within the next three days.

  • Statewise distribution of vaccines transparent, media allegations baseless: Centre

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Allocation of COVID-19 vaccines to a state is done based on its population, caseload, utilisation efficiency and wastage factors, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said, dismissing media reports alleging non-transparent distribution of the jabs.

    There have been some media reports alleging non-transparent allocation of COVID-19 vaccines to states, according to the statement. The ministry said the “allegations are completely without any basis, and not fully informed”.

    It clarified that the Government of India continues to allocate COVID-19 vaccines to states and UTs in a transparent manner.

    #CovidVaccine distribution to states based on parameters below, reiterates @MoHFW_INDIAPopulation of a stateCaseload or disease burdenState’s utilisation efficiency*allocation negatively affected by the vaccine wastage@NewIndianXpress#CovidVaccination
    — Sumi Dutta (@SumiSukanya) June 24, 2021

    In a statement, the ministry said India’s National COVID Vaccination Programme is built on scientific and epidemiological evidence, WHO guidelines and global best practices.

    Anchored in systematic end-to-end planning, it is implemented through effective and efficient participation of states and UTs and the people at large.

    Information about the vaccine supply by the Government of India, consumption by the states and UTs, balance and unutilised vaccine doses available with them, along with vaccine supply in the pipeline is regularly shared through press releases made by Press Information Bureau, and also through other forums, the statement said. 

  • COVID 19: Over 29.10 crore vaccine doses provided to states, UTs, says Health Ministry

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: More than 29.10 crore (29,10,54,050) vaccine doses have been provided to States ad Union Territories so far by the central government (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category, the Union Health Ministry said.

    The total consumption, including wastages, is 26,04,19,412 doses, as per data available at 8 AM on Sunday.

    More than 3.06 crore (3,06,34,638) COVID vaccine doses are still available with the States/UTs to be administered.

    Furthermore, more than 24,53,080 vaccine doses are in the pipeline and will be received by the States/UTs within the next three days.

    As part of its nationwide vaccination drive, the central government has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID vaccines free of cost.

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    In addition, the central government has also been facilitating direct procurement of vaccines by the States/UTs.

    Vaccination is an integral pillar of the comprehensive strategy of government of India for containment and management of the pandemic, along with test, track, treat and COVID appropriate behaviour.

    The implementation of the Liberalized and Accelerated Phase-3 Strategy of Covid-19 vaccination started from May 1, 2021.

    Under the strategy, in every month 50 per cent of the total Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) cleared vaccine doses of any manufacturer would be procured by central government.

    It would continue to make these doses available to the state governments totally free of cost as was being done earlier.

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