216 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses to be available from August to December

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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday, May 13 announced that 216 crore doses of covid-19 vaccines will be made available for its citizens between August to December 2021. Vaccination is one of the main tools in the fight against coronavirus pandemic. More than 17.72 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the country under Phase-3 of the nationwide Vaccination Drive.

Moreover, of all the vaccines administered in the world, 13% of vaccines have been administered in our country. Also, India administered 17 crore doses of covid vaccines in just 114 days, ahead of the USA (115 days) and China (119 days).

216 crore vaccine doses to be made available

Keeping in view the future requirement of Covid-19 vaccines in the country, Dr. V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, informed that the Government of India has been in talks with various companies regarding the production and availability of vaccines in the country.

He informed that in a span of 5 months, between August to December 2021, a total of 216 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be produced or made available in the country. Covishield and Covaxin will contribute 75 crore and 55 crore doses of Covid vaccine.

On the other hand, Biological E Ltd will produce 30 crore doses of its Bio E Sub Vaccine which is in phase 3 of clinical trials. 5 crore doses of Zydus Cadila DNA Vaccine, and 10 crore doses of BB Nasal Vaccine will be produced during this period. All these three vaccines are fully ‘Made in India’ vaccines, as informed by Dr. VK Paul during the press briefing.

In addition to these, Serum Institute’s SII Novavax, Genova mRNA Vaccine, and Sputnik vaccine would amount to 20 crore doses, 6 crore doses, and 15.6 crore doses respectively.

Altogether, these vaccine doses take India’s vaccine availability in the future to 216 crore doses. Dr. Paul added that in the future, more foreign vaccines may be made available in due course of time.

Govt has procured 51.6 crore vaccine doses till July

The government of India has so far procured 35.6 crore covid-19 vaccine doses for the ongoing vaccination drive in the country for free distribution to States.

The government of India had procured 6.6 crore vaccine doses of Covishield (5.6 cr) and Covaxin (1 cr) using the PM Cares Fund, all of which were timely received and have been fully utilised.

It had also procured 1 crore vaccine doses of Covishield from the GAVI COVAX facility. This batch too was received and has been utilised in the country.

Dr. Paul mentioned that the government has received 86% of 12 crore vaccine doses of Covishield (10 cr) and Covaxin (2 cr). He added that the rest of the quantities will also be received by the end of May 2021. The government of India procured these doses for phase II of the vaccination drive.

For phase III of the vaccination drive, the government procured 16 crore doses of Covisheild (11 cr) and Covaxin (5 cr). The supply of these began in May 2021 and would end in July 2021. Dr. Paul added that the payment for these vaccines too has been made by the government.

A total of 27.6 crore vaccine doses of Covishield and 8 crore doses of Covaxin are available with the government, of which some have been utilised, while some remain to be administered to the people.

Dr. V K Paul, during the press briefing also informed that 16 crore additional doses of vaccine under direct procurement are in pipeline for States and private hospitals to be. This makes a total of 51.6 crore doses of vaccines procured by the Government of India for free distribution to States. Taking into consideration vaccine wastage, he added that around 50 crore people will be vaccinated with this amount of vaccine doses.

Doses delivered/ to be delivered to the States in May 2021

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data till May 13, 1.65 crore free vaccine doses have been supplied by the Government of India to States/UTs. On the other hand, 2.35 crore free doses are in line to be supplied by the Government of India to States/UTs.

1.23 crore doses of vaccines have been directly procured by States/UTs while 1.27 crore doses directly procured by States/UTs are in pipeline.

Meanwhile, private hospitals have procured 0.80 crore doses directly by themselves.

Dr. Paul also informed that covid vaccines will be available for all, and its administration has been planned keeping in view the vulnerable population in mind. Hence, people shall not worry about it. He praised the support our country has received from entrepreneurship, the regulatory system, State and Central governments, scientists, front line and health care workers, and more.