Tag: Vaccine Drive

  • Over 1.70 crore unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses still with states, private hospitals, says Centre

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: More than 1.70 crore unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states, UTs and private hospitals, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

    Over 38.18 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far through all sources and a further 23,80,080 doses are in the pipeline.

    Of this, the total consumption including wastage is 36,48,77,756 doses, the ministry said.

    The new phase of universalisation of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from June 21.

  • COVID-19: No door-to-door vaccine drive in national policy, Centre tells Bombay High Court

    By PTI
    MUMBAI The Union government on Monday told the Bombay High Court that its national guidelines do not at present allow a door-to-door drive to vaccinate people against COVID-19.

    The Union government’s counsel, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, said some state governments and municipal bodies had decided to ignore its advisory guidelines and were conducting door-to-door vaccination for special categories of citizens, but it was not possible yet to make such drives a part of the national policy.

    ASG Singh was responding to a previous query posed by a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni on what the Centre thought about the BMC’s request seeking its permission to conduct door-to-door vaccination for the elderly, bedridden, or such category of citizens.

    “On the BMC’s permission letter to Union ministry of health and family welfare, the ministry says its current advisory against such drives has been formulated based on recommendations of experts,” ASG Singh said.

    “Some states and municipal bodies have been carrying out door-to-door vaccination but from the national angle, the national policy should be followed. We request the court to bear with us for sometime. For the time being, it is not practical or possible,” he said.

    The ASG said the Centre, however, kept improvising and updating its policy from time to time and perhaps, sometime in future, it might permit door-to-door vaccination drives.

    ASG Singh said since the Union government’s policy was merely advisory in nature, it had not asked states such as Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand, which were conducting such drives, to roll them back.

    The HC then pointed out that in case Maharashtra, which has already expressed its desire to conduct door-to-door vaccination drives for the bedridden, decides to go ahead with it, then the state would stand on the same footing as the states mentioned above.

    The bench also asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) if it would follow the Centre or the state’s guidelines in case Maharashtra began a door-to-door drive.

    “We will follow the state’s guidelines. The state is thinking about the drive but issues like lack of manpower, since three persons will be needed to visit each person getting vaccinated, requirement of ambulance, and ensuring no wastage of vaccine, have to be be considered,” BMC counsel Anil Sakhre said.

    The state’s counsel, Gita Shastri, told HC that while news reports had quoted state health minister Rajesh Tope expressing a willingness to begin door-to-door vaccination drives for the bedridden, and for formulating a separate protocol for the same, she was yet to take instructions as to when a final decision would be taken.

    The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by lawyer Dhruti Kapadia, seeking door-to-door vaccination drive for citizens above 75 years of age, and for those who were specially-abled or bedridden.

    HC said it will pass detailed directions on the same later this evening.

    It will hear the plea further on June 22.

  • Issues in Co-WIN, hesitancy resulted in low coverage of COVID-19 vaccination drive initially: Govt

    The rate of vaccination coverage has subsequently increased, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey said in a written reply.

  • COVID-19 vaccination begins in West Bengal; great day for humankind, says first recipient

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The COVID-19 vaccination drive began in West Bengal on Saturday morning, with a doctor of a private hospital receiving the first shot, officials said.

    Bipasha Seth is the first person who got inoculated in the state, the hospital authorities said.

    “It’s a great day for humankind. I feel elated to get the first dose,” said Seth.

    West Bengal’s Minister of State for Labour Nirmal Maji also received the Covishield vaccine at the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, the officials said.

    The vaccination programme started around 10.30 am at 212 session sites, including medical colleges, urban primary healthcare centres and a few private hospitals, they said.

    ALSO READ: PM Modi launches India’s coronavirus vaccine drive, first shot administered

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing earlier in the day.

    Around 1,800 health workers have been selected for inoculation on Saturday, the officials said.

    “Today is a big day for us. It seems we are slowly coming out of the pandemic, which has claimed so many lives. We were in a state of depression for the last one year. From today, we will again relive our lives,” Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said.

    Hakim said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a virtual meeting with officials at 1 pm to monitor the vaccination process.

    Around 90,000 frontline health workers at government and private hospitals have been enrolled for the first phase in West Bengal.

    Kolkata has been allocated the highest number of 93,500 doses, followed by North 24 Parganas district (47,000) and Murshidabad (37,500).