News Analysis India

Tag: vaccine shortage

  • Covid vaccination likely to be halted for two days in Jharkhand

    By Express News Service
    RANCHI: The ongoing vaccination drive in Jharkhand is likely to be halted for at least two days as the state ran out of vials on Tuesday. According to senior officials in the health department, the vaccination drive is expected to resume on Friday after the allotment for the month of July reaches here.

    “82, 000 doses of vaccines were left on Monday evening which got finished on Tuesday. The next lot of 6 lakh vaccines is likely to arrive on July 2. Till then the vaccination drive will have to be suspended,” said Nodal Officer for Health department’s IEC Siddharth Tripathy.

    Meanwhile, only a few doses of vaccine have been left in Khunti, which will be administered on Wednesday, he added.

    According to official records, a total of 68,28,708 people have been vaccinated in Jharkhand so far in Jharkhand. 57,70,683 people have been administered the first dose, while 10,58,025 people have been administered both doses.

  • ‘Serious concern’, says Centre as only half of healthcare and frontline workers fully vaccinated so far

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Less than 60 per cent healthcare workers in India have been fully vaccinated against Covid so far, nearly five months after a nationwide inoculation drive was started for them in mid-January.  

    The number of healthcare workers in the country is about 1 crore and they are considered the most vulnerable to the infectious disease. 

    Union Health Ministry, in a review meeting on Covid vaccination in the country on Thursday underlined that while the national average for the first dose administration among for this category 82%, it is only 56% for the second dose. 

    Worryingly, in 18 states and Union Territories including Punjab, Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Assam, the full vaccination coverage among healthcare workers is even lower than the national average. 

    Apart from low full vaccination coverage among this crucial category, less than half of the frontline workers in the country — numbering about 2 crores –have received two complete doses of vaccine yet. 

    For this priority group, while the national average of first dose coverage is 85%, it is only 47% for the second dose, with 19 states and UTs reporting even lower figures than this. Among them are Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Telangana, Karnataka, and Punjab. 

    ALSO READ | Jharkhand tops in Covid vaccine wastage; Kerala, West Bengal report negative wastage

    Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the low full vaccination coverage for these two priority groups was a “serious concern”. 

    The universal vaccination coverage and full protection for these groups is crucial to protect healthcare response to pandemic, Bhushan told states, asking them to sharpen their focus and prepare effective plans for expediting the second dose administration. 

    States were also instructed to dedicate special time slots or sessions for the exercise. 

    Another worry for the Centre in the ongoing Covid vaccination drive is less than adequate private sector participation. 

    As per the government’s coronavirus vaccination policy, 25% of the vaccine stock can be procured by the private hospitals but in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam, their participation has been negligible owing to the limited presence and their unequal spread. 

    In the review meeting, states were alerted to the new features in the CoWIN portal which were incorporated in light of the new vaccination guidelines. Now, rectifications can be done in the personal information such as name, year of birth, gender and photo id number of the card.   

    The amendments also allow change in vaccine type, date of vaccination, vaccination events particularly not recorded in CoWIN for which users however will have to take the help of district immunization officers. 

    The government said that a feature to tag the existing Covid vaccination centres as urban and rural is also being provided.

  • Withdraw 25 per cent Covid vaccine reservation for private sector: Left parties to govt

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Left parties demanded on Tuesday that the government withdraw the 25 per cent reservation of vaccines for the private sector, alleging that it was a “licence” to loot.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Monday that the Centre will provide free coronavirus vaccines to the states for the inoculation of all above the age of 18 years from June 21.

    He also said private hospitals can continue to procure 25 per cent of the vaccines, but their service charge would be capped at Rs 150 per dose over the fixed price of the vaccine.

    The Communist Party of India (Marxist), in a statement, said people will reject the “condemnable” effort by the prime minister to level false charges against the state governments and shift the responsibility to them.

    “However, the failed vaccine policy has not been fully reversed. The government has chosen to continue the dual pricing policy. As much as 25 per cent of vaccine production is still reserved for the private sector. This is nothing but a licence for loot by private manufacturers to make super profits.

    “Further, at a time of an acute vaccine shortage, the continuation of such a policy will dilute and weaken the need for universal vaccination, essential to prevent a third wave of the coronavirus. Only the rich can afford the exorbitant pricing of vaccines for the private hospitals permitted by the government,” the CPI(M) said, demanding the withdrawal of the 25 per cent reservation for the private sector.

    The Communist Party of India (CPI) said it is the Centre’s responsibility to make vaccines available to all citizens of the country for free and it is “not an act of charity”.

    “The party wants the government to ensure free supply of vaccines with full transparency. The party also wants the government to take into confidence the state governments as well as the public so that the entire population is vaccinated properly.

    “The party feels that there is no logic in allowing private hospitals to provide 25 per cent of vaccines and vaccination with a charge of Rs 150. The party emphasises that the entire vaccination must be free and be the responsibility of the central government,” it said in a statement.

  • Govt places order for 44 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin after change in vaccine policy

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday placed orders for 44 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre would take over the state procurement quota and provide free jabs to state governments for inoculation of all above the age of 18.

    These 44 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be delivered by their makers between August and December 2021, the Union Health Ministry said.

    “In immediate follow-up of the prime minister’s announcement of these changes in the Guidelines of National COVID Vaccination programme yesterday, the Centre has placed an order with Serum Institute of India for 25 crore doses of Covishield and with Bharat Biotech for 19 crore doses of Covaxin.

    “Additionally, 30 per cent of the advance for procurement of both the COVID-19 vaccines has been released to Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech,” an official said.

    The official said the Centre has been supporting the efforts of states and union territories for an effective vaccination drive under the “whole of government approach” since January 16 this year.

    Based on various representations received by the Centre, the vaccination for all adults above 18 years of age was opened in the Phase III of vaccination strategy beginning May 1.

    “Now with the aim to further universalise the countrywide vaccination drive, all citizens above 18 years of age can receive the COVID-19 vaccine doses free of cost at government health facilities,” the official said.

    The central government will provide free coronavirus vaccines to states and union territories for inoculation of all above 18 years of age from June 21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, announcing that the Centre will take over the 25 per cent state procurement quota.

    Asserting that vaccine supply would be increased significantly in the coming days, the prime minister said the Centre has now decided to buy 75 per cent of jabs from vaccine makers for free supply to states, while private sector hospitals will continue to procure the remaining 25 per cent.

  • Vaccination for 18-44 age group falls by over 50 per cent within one week in Bihar as shortage rises

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Bihar on Tuesday recorded the worst performance in the vaccination for 18-44 age group with only 2,438 doses being administered. Ranked first in vaccination for people in 18-44 age group, the last nine-days proved to be a wonder for the state.

    The vaccination for the people of this age-group, which had started from May 9, is now going down for the last one week. In many places, including Patna, the vaccine drive has got badly interrupted for want of doses which have run short out of stock.

    Health Minister Mangal Pandey, upon being asked by the media, said that the vaccination will get a pace in next 2-3 days with the arrival of consignment of doses.

    According to official figures, the vaccination for this age group has gone down by over 50 per cent of total vaccination done in the previous day.

    For example, 35,933 doses of jabs were used for the inoculation of the people of the said age group on May 26 but that reduced to only 20,246 on May 27.

    On May 28, only 9,540 people were vaccinated. On May 29, a meagre rise in the number of total vaccinated people was registered with 10,347.

    But on May 30, the number of people of this age group dropped by 50 per cent with only 5,260 people of this getting vaccinated, followed by 4,104 on May 31 and 2,438 on June 1.

  • EXPLAINER: Why ‘world’s pharmacy’ India is short on COVID-19 vaccine shots

    By Associated Press
    NEW DELHI (AP) — Last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the United Nations his country would make enough COVID-19 vaccines “to help all humanity.” Now India is struggling to meet its own domestic needs for the shots amid a startling surge of infections.

    As the world’s largest maker of vaccines, India always was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But a mixture of overconfidence, poor planning and bad luck has prevented that from happening.

    Here’s a look at what went wrong:

    CAUGHT OFF GUARD

    Officials in India seemed to have been caught off guard by several things, including the speed at which vaccines were approved for use around the world. India like many other countries had been working under the assumption that vaccines wouldn’t be ready for use until mid-2021.

    Instead, they started being greenlit in some countries in December — upping the pressure to not only produce but deliver promised shots as soon as possible. India, which approved two vaccines in January, turned out to not be ready for either the eventual demand at home or abroad.

    The government’s plan had been to vaccinate 300 million of the India’s nearly 1.4 billion people by August. But it hadn’t actually reserved even close to enough shots to do so. It had just assumed — partly based on projections from the country’s vaccine makers — that there would be enough doses to both vaccinate people at home and fulfil promised orders abroad.

    ALSO READ: Boosting cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines to be focus of Jaishankar’s 5-day visit to US

    There also was little domestic urgency because India’s infections had been declining consistently for months. In fact, in January, just days after India kicked off its domestic vaccination campaign and also started exporting shots, Modi declared victory over the pandemic at a virtual gathering of the World Economic Forum.

    Modi’s government seemed to bask in the early success of its so-called “vaccine diplomacy” and the Foreign Ministry reiterated time and again that exports were calibrated according to the needs of the domestic immunization program.

    Experts say that turned out to be a dangerous miscalculation as an explosion of domestic cases was just around the corner.

    Dr. Vineeta Bal, who studies immune systems at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Pune city, said the government should’ve been planning for the future instead of celebrating its “victory” over the virus.

    “I’ve no idea why people didn’t think about it,” she said. “Did no one do the calculation … of how many doses will be needed in India?”

    PRODUCTION PROBLEMS

    India has two main COVID-19 vaccine producers: the Serum Institute of India, which is making the AstraZeneca vaccine, and Bharat Biotech, which is making its own local vaccine.

    India had allowed the companies to start producing their shots last year as they waited for formal approval from regulators. Both the government and the companies thought that by the time the shots were approved they would have larger stockpiles of the vaccines than they did.

    Scaling up manufacturing has turned out to be a problem for both companies.

    ALSO READ | Will have to shut vaccination centres for 18-44 age group as vaccine stocks are over: Delhi CM

    Serum Institute’s chief executive, Adar Poonawalla, told the The Associated Press in December that the target was to make up to 100 million shots monthly by January and to split them equally between India and the world. But the federal government told states last month that the company was producing just 60 million shots a month.

    The company has said that a fire in its facilities in January and a U.S. embargo on exporting raw materials needed to make the the jabs has hobbled production. Poonawalla told the Associated Press that pivoting away from suppliers in the U.S. could result in a delay of up to six months.

    Bharat Biotech chairman Krishna Ella told reporters in January that the company was aiming to make 700 million shots in 2021. But the federal government told states last month that the company was producing just 10 million shots a month.

    The government said last month that it was giving the company millions of dollars in grants to try to help it ramp up production.

    Neither company nor India’s Health Ministry responded to requests for comment.

    ALSO READ | Over 1.6 crore COVID vaccine doses still available with states and UTs: Health ministry

    WHAT NEXT?

    With India recording hundreds of thousands of new infections each day, the government on May 1 opened up vaccination to all adults. That caused a surge in demand that has laid bare the extent of the shortage.

    India has so far received just 196 million shots, including 10 million as a part of COVAX, a worldwide initiative aimed at providing equitable access to vaccines. Just 41 million people have been fully vaccinated, while 104 million more have received the first shot.

    But the number of shots administered has declined from an average of 3.6 million a day on April 10 to about 1.4 million a day on May 20.

    To help with the shortage, India has greenlit the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and 200,000 doses of that arrived last week.

    The government says supplies will improve soon and expects more than 2 billion shots to be available between August and December, according to Dr. V.K. Paul, a government advisor. That would include 750 million shots made by Serum Institute, 550 million shots made by Bharat Biotech and 156 million shots from Russia.

    There are also plans for five Indian companies to make the Russian vaccine locally and for Serum Institute to make a version of the Novavax vaccine and vaccines from five other Indian companies whose shots are still being tested.

    But experts warn that such estimates are once again too optimistic.

    “These are optimistic estimates…there are many ifs and buts that one needs to consider,” said Bal.

    WATCH 

  • Bharat Biotech ropes in subsidiary to scale up Covaxin production, estimates nearly 1 billion doses per annum

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Bharat Biotech on Thursday announced its plan to rope in its wholly owned subsidiary Chiron Behring for speed up production of Covaxin, India’s first and only indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine so far, by an additional 20 crore doses per year.

    This will effectively take the volumes of Covaxin to nearly 1 billion doses per annum, produced at the company’s own established campuses specialised for manufacturing inactivated viral vaccines under the highest levels of biosafety, claimed the firm.

    As of now, Bharat Biotech is manufacturing only about 1.5 crore doses of Covaxin per month which is likely to go up to 4-5 crore doses per month by July this year.

    The company, facilitated by the Union government which is under huge pressure to fulfil huge demands for Covid vaccines in the country, has tied up with three public service undertakings to scale up the production of Covaxin.

    These undertakings, however, could take quite a few months before actual productions start.

    Bharat Biotech said on Thursday that Covaxin produced at Chiron Behring at Ankleshwar, Gujarat could be available September onwards.

    “Bharat Biotech had already deployed multiple production lines at its Hyderabad and Bengaluru campuses, adding Chiron Behring to this line up of high containment BSL (bio safety lab) rated GMP facilities that are required to manufacture Covaxin,” said the company in a statement.

    “The company plans to produce 200 million doses of Covaxin per annum in the GMP facilities that are already operational for the production of vaccines based on Inactivated Vero Cell Platform Technology, under stringent levels of GMP and biosafety,” it said.

    “This effectively takes the volumes up to 1 billion doses per annum, with its own established campuses specialised for manufacturing inactivated viral vaccines under the highest levels of biosafety,” it added.

    The Ankleshwar-based plant would start rolling out the much in demand vaccine from the fourth quarter of the year, it added.

    ALSO READ | Government should issue white paper on COVID-vaccination strategy: Congress to PM Modi

    The company said it has already deployed multiple production lines for the vaccine at its Hyderabad and Bengaluru campuses.

    Government had earlier said that talks are on with at least nine other companies in other countries-including 5 in Germany—to scale up the production of Covaxin.

    Top authorities handling the Covid crisis in India, about a week back, had said that 2.16 billion doses of  vaccines could be available between August-December of which Covaxin will comprise 55 crore doses.

    However, experts have dismissed these projections as highly unrealistic.

    Chiron Behring Vaccines, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Bharat Biotech, is one of the largest manufacturers of rabies vaccines in the world.

    Last month, Bharat Biotech had announced that it has been able to enhance the production capacity of Covaxin to 700 million doses per annum.

    Manufacturing scale up has been carried out in a stepwise manner across multiple facilities at Hyderabad and Bangalore, the company had stated.

    Bharat Biotech sells Covaxin to the states at Rs 400 per dose.

    Facing the world’s fastest-growing coronavirus outbreak, India has seen a near collapse of its health care system in several parts as hospitals ran out of oxygen and did not have enough beds to admit new patients.

    To deal with the crisis, the government has, among other measures, opened up vaccination for all above 18 years.

    But the procurement of vaccines for those between 18 and 44 years has been left to states and private hospitals.

    This has led to state after state rushing to Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India (SII).

    Both the companies are at the forefront of supplying COVID-19 vaccines in the country even as the second wave of the pandemic continues to ravage various states.

    India has announced expansion of its COVID-19 vaccination drive by allowing its large 18-plus population to get inoculated from May 1.

    ALSO READ | ‘Provide free vaccination to all citizens, ramp us tests’: 116 former civil servants to PM

    Over the last few days several states have pointed out a shortage in supply of vaccines.

    Some of the states have even gone ahead by floating global tenders to cater to the demand.

    Bharat Biotech has received Emergency Use Authorisations (EUAs) for Covaxin in India and in several countries across the globe with another 60 in the process.

    Pricing for international markets and supplies to governments under EUA’s have been established between USD 15-20 per dose.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Centre shares info on vaccine supply till June 15, asks states to prepare plan

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Centre has asked states to prepare a district-wise and vaccination centre-wise plan for the administration of Covid vaccine till mid-June, and publicise it, in order to avoid overcrowding at inoculation centres.

    The figure shared by the Union government said that between May 1 and June 15, a total of 5,86,29 000 doses will be provided to the states under the central quota. While 70% of the vaccine doses are to be used for the second jabs of the most vulnerable 45 plus population, 30% is to be used for administering first jabs to those in this population group.

    No vaccine doses supplied by the Centre however, can be used for administering shots to the 18-44 year age group. 

    In addition, as per information received from vaccine manufacturers of Covishield and Covaxin, a total of 4 crore, 87 lakh and 55 thousand doses are available till end of next month for direct procurement by states.

    Last week, the government said that it is supplying states with 1.92 crore doses of Covid vaccine between May 16 and May 31, which includes 162.5 lakh doses of Covishield and 29.49 lakh doses of Covaxin.

    ALSO READ | India could get fourth Covid vaccine as Zydus Cadila set to seek nod for ZyCoV-D

    The Centre  on Wednesday asserted that it has already shared a clear supply timeline with states till June and in order to ensure efficient and judicious utilization of available doses for successful implementation of Covid vaccination drive, states have been asked to prepare a clear plan for this period.

    Apart from preparing a district-wise and vaccination centre-wise plan for administration of Covid vaccines, states have also been instructed to use multiple media platforms for dissemination of such a plan to enhance awareness among the masses.

    Also, states and private vaccination centres have been advised to publish their vaccination calendar on CoWIN digital platform in advance, while desisting from publishing single day vaccination calendars.

    It also said that the states should see that there is no overcrowding at vaccination centres and the process of booking appointments on CoWIN is hassle-free.

    As of now, the states should make advance plans for administration of Covid vaccine till June 15, said the health ministry.

    “The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from Covid continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level,” said the government.

    Till Wednesday morning, India has administered a total of 18,58,09,302 vaccine doses of which nearly 64 lakh jabs have been given to those in the 18-44 age group. 

  • Centre says open to facilitate Covaxin tech transfer to ramp up production

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Amid the growing chorus for technology transfer to mass-produce Covaxin, the Centre on Thursday clarified that a sophisticated technological platform required for the process is a major constraint.

    This vaccine, which is an inactivated version of the Covid virus and requires the live virus to be cultured, can only be processed in laboratories categorised as biosafety level 3, stressed VK Paul, member, health, Niti Aayog, who also heads the national Covid task force.

    Covaxin was developed by Bharat Biotech with support from ICMR which shares the IP rights of the vaccine. The government health research body had invested about Rs 35 crore in its pre-clinical and clinical trials.

    “This suggestion (of technology transfer) has been welcomed by Bharat Biotech but it needs to be understood that Covaxin has been developed from inactivated SARS CoV 2 and can only be developed at laboratories with BSL 3 standards which none of the other companies in India has as of now,” said Paul at a press briefing.

    He, however, added that the government will support any firm which is interested in going for this major technical up-gradation, in order to scale up the production of Covaxin in India.

    Many experts, however, said that more than anything, it is the political will that would be required for an ambitious venture like this.

    “If the whole of India needs to be vaccinated against Covid in a year, the country will need to produce at least 50-55 million doses every day and for that to start happening in 2-3 months from now, the government needs to plan today,” said R Ramakumar, an economist with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai.

    ALSO READ | Think out of the box to scale up Covaxin production

    “It should ask Bharat Biotech to transfer technology and quickly start empowering other vaccine makers to produce the vaccine on a large scale but that needs a quick and strong decision making now,” he told this newspaper.

    For May-June, the expected doses of Covaxin for India per month is 2 crore while it is expected to reach 6-7 crore per month in July-August.

    Those rooting for an aggressive escalation of India’s Covid vaccination programme, meanwhile said this number should go to ideally at least 15 crore a month.

    Former Union Health Secretary Sujatha K Rao said that there are 6-8 companies, including some PSUs which need to be immediately roped in by the Centre.

    “These companies have the production capacity and as far as safety and quality norms are concerned that can be raised by hand holding the firms now so that Covaxin’s production is raised by a significant proportion in a few months,” she said.

    The Centre meanwhile retorted the criticism that it is not doing enough on raising the production of Covaxin and said that it has facilitated the technology transfer agreements between Bharat Biotech with two central PSUs–Indian Immunologicals Ltd, BIBCOL and one Maharashtra government undertaking Haffkine Institute.

    The Union government, in a statement also said that it has also extended substantial financial assistance to these three undertakings and while IIL is set to start producing Covaxin from September this year, two others are likely to begin manufacturing by November.

    More such collaborations, said the Centre, are likely soon.

    Immunologist Seyed Hasnain while batting for such arrangements, pointed out it will be better in terms of ensuring the quality of the product if Bharat Biotech is helped financially by the government to significantly raise its production capacity.

  • COVID -19: Parliamentary panel had asked govt in March to ramp up vaccine production capacity

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A parliamentary standing committee had in March suggested ramping up of production capacity of the two COVID vaccines manufactured in India for ensuring their availability to a wider population as soon as possible after it was informed that there could be a “shortage” if the inoculation is opened beyond the priority groups.

    The recommendation was made by the 31-member committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, chaired by senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, in its report on Demand for Grants for Department of Biotechnology that was tabled in Parliament on March 8.

    The panel has as many as 14 members from the ruling BJP.

    “The Committee recommends to strengthen the efforts for ramping up the production capacity of the two approved vaccines as well as provide all research, laboratory infrastructure and capacity building support to the other vaccine candidates in the pipeline, in order to ensure the availability of a safe, affordable, and efficacious vaccine to the wider population as soon as possible,” the report said.

    According to sources, during the standing committee meeting on February 17, members of the panel had asked as to how soon the vaccination exercise can be opened beyond priority groups, to which it was conveyed that there could be a shortage if it is opened beyond the priority groups.

    When asked about the recommendation of the committee, Ramesh said it was clear to the panel from the submissions made by the government that the current production would be inadequate to meet the demand for vaccines.

    “India needs around 1.9 billion doses to fully vaccinate all adults. It was clear to the Standing Committee from the data presented by the government that the current production capacity is inadequate to meet that demand.

    “That’s why we recommended that the production capacity must be ramped up as soon as possible. Alas, this wasn’t done, and now we are facing a massive vaccine shortage,” the house panel chairman Jairam Ramesh told PTI.

    However, BJP MP from Jhansi Anurag Sharma, who was part of the panel, said the Centre had worked on the committee’s recommendations by allocating funds to both Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India.

    Several states have decided to issue global tenders for procurement of COVID vaccines as the domestic supply has failed to keep up with the rising demand amid the fierce second wave of the pandemic.

    These include Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha.

    The parliamentary panel report tabled in March also mentions that Covaxin, developed jointly by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has a planned production capacity of 150 million doses per year.

    The estimated manufacturing capacity of Covishield manufactured by the Serum Institute of India is about 70-100 million doses per month.

    The Department of Biotechnology had also informed the standing committee that the Centre launched ‘Mission COVID Suraksha’ for research and development of Indian COVID-19 vaccines which are affordable and accessible.

    The mission aims to accelerate the development of approximately 5-6 vaccine candidates.

    It is being implemented by BIRAC, a PSU.

    The total budget allocated to it is Rs 900 crore for 12 months.

    India started the world’s largest vaccination drive on January 16 this year in a phased manner with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated first.

    The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.

    The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

    India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 from April 1.

    Implementation of the Liberalised and Accelerated Phase 3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination to inoculate those in the age group of 18-44 years started from May 1 amid the outbreak of the second COVID wave.

    The Centre had also allowed states to directly procure vaccines from manufacturers at a pre-decided rate.