JOIN US38 lakh Covid-19 vaccines unused in pvt sector; CM Reddy wants their reallocation to Andhra Pradesh govt
As many as 38 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines allocated for the private sector immunisation in Andhra Pradesh have remained unused.
These are out of the 43.38 lakh doses allotted for the private sector hospitals in the state for the months of May, June and July.
The issue of the unconsumed vaccines lying with the private hospitals was brought to the notice of chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy on Wednesday.
When officials informed that only 5,24,347 doses were utilised by the private hospitals, Reddy, according to CMO sources, said that he would write a letter to the central government seeking reallocation of the unused doses to the state government, “in order to speed up the vaccination drive.”
Reddy had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier requesting to dispense with the supply of vaccines to private hospitals “so that the entire stock is available with the state and central governments to take up the immunisation of all the eligible people.”
“In a situation where there is not enough supply to cater to even the 45+ age group completely, and no possibility of taking up the free vaccination of 18-44 years for the next few months, it appears very unreasonable to allow some private sector hospitals to vaccinate people of all age groups at exorbitant rates,” Reddy said in his letter to Modi in May.
Reddy had opined that providing vaccines to the private hospitals when the supply is limited is disadvantageous to the poorer sections who cannot afford the high cost. “It also creates a situation of vaccine black marketing, which administratively is a Herculean task to control.”
Health officials said that the state government has administered over 2.04 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine till now of which 1.03 crore are of first dose.
50.46 lakh people received both doses.
For effective control of Covid-19 in the state during a possible third wave, CM Reddy has called for the constitution of a committee to study the pandemic situation in various other states.
There are 21,279 active Covid-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh, as of Thursday. The recovery rate is over 98 per cent.