New Delhi: The Center has asked states to reduce vaccine wastage. The recommendation came after a review meeting of the Union Ministry of Health on vaccination. Currently, the national average for vaccine waste is 6.3. The Center has suggested that the states reduce their waste of vaccines to 1 percent.
At present, Jharkhand has 37.3 percent, Chhattisgarh 30.2 percent, Tamil Nadu 15.5 percent, Jammu and Kashmir 10.8 percent, and Madhya Pradesh 10.7 percent. The meeting was chaired by Union Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. The meeting was attended by state health secretaries and senior officials related to vaccination.
The meeting was convened to expedite and evaluate the progress of the corona vaccination program. The Center suggested that states and Union Territories should use all the possibilities of the Cowin application to expedite vaccination. The Center also said that the Cowin platform has been upgraded to include the availability of Russia’s Sputnik vaccine.
The central government said in a meeting that the new stock vaccine would be given to the states in the first week of June. The meeting also assessed the progress of vaccination in different states. Vaccination is currently in progress in the country. So far, 20,06,62,456 people in the country have been vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health.
