Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Wednesday said India will have procured 267 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of this year, and will be in a position to inoculate at least all of its adult population, according to an official statement.
The minister said that 51 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses will be made available by July and 216 crore more between August and December.
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He urged states to ensure that the healthcare and frontline workers are fully vaccinated, as they form the vulnerable categories.
Interacting with the health ministers and principal secretaries/ additional chief secretaries of West Bengal and eight northeast states, Vardhan said, “Between August to December 2021, India will have procured 216 crore vaccine doses while, by July this year, 51 crore doses will be procured.”
He said that by the end of the year, the country will be in a position to vaccinate at least all of its adult population, according to the health ministry statement.
West Bengal and the eight states of the North-eastern region are depicting a higher growth rate in the number of daily cases, high mortality and increasing positivity rate, the statement said.
Pointing out the new emerging trend in the country, Vardhan highlighted that now smaller states are showing an upward trend in terms of number of infections and there is a need to be cautious about this.
Speaking of the government’s efforts towards fighting coronavirus, Vardhan said that from having just one COVID testing laboratory at the start of the pandemic, there are over 2000 across the country now.
“We have increased our capacity to test 25 lakh people daily. Yesterday, India achieved a historical first by testing the highest number of over 20 lakh people in a single day. This is a global record too,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.
He stressed on the continued need to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour along with renewed and stringent focus on containment measures.
Underscoring the critical importance of vaccination drive, the minister highlighted that India has achieved another landmark by crossing 18 crore doses recently.
He also pointed out that more than one crore doses are still in stock with the state governments.
