Amid vaccine shortage, Haryana, Assam, Rajasthan report highest wastage
The state of Haryana reported the highest percentage of COVID-19 vaccine wastage even as the nation faces a shortage of doses which has hindered the nationwide immunization drive. On Monday, the state reported a high vaccine wastage of 6.49%. On the contrary, several states and union territories including Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Maharashtra recorded "zero vaccine wastage." Here are more details.
Haryana reported a 6.49% vaccine wastage followed by Assam (5.92%), Rajasthan (5.68%), Meghalaya (5.67%), Bihar (5.2%), Manipur (5.19%), Punjab (4.94%), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (4.85%), and Tamil Nadu (4.13%), data shared by the Union Health Ministry on Monday showed. Notably, as on Sunday, Haryana reported 6.65% vaccine wastage followed by Rajasthan (5.5%), Punjab (5.05%), Bihar (4.96%), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (4.93%), and Meghalaya (4.21%).
All states/UTs where vaccine wastage is recorded in the negative are said to have reported "zero vaccine wastage." A negative balance indicates more consumption—including wastage—than vaccine supplied as these states have not reconciled the vaccine supplied to the Armed Forces, the Health Ministry said.
On Monday, the states/UTs that reported zero wastage of vaccines included Andaman and Nicobar Islands (-18.16%), Andhra Pradesh (-1.0%), Arunachal Pradesh (-1.18%), Goa (-2.84%), Himachal Pradesh (-2.73%), Karnataka (-0.90%), Kerala (-5.26%), Ladakh (-0.71%), Maharashtra (-1.19%), Mizoram (-7.73%), Odisha (-2.94%), Sikkim (-0.87%), and Telangana (-0.64%). Lakshadweep—which reported the highest vaccine wastage of 22.74% on Sunday—also reported zero vaccine wastage (-0.51%).
India had launched its vaccination drive on January 16, 2021, and has since administered over 17 crore doses. Starting May 1, India's vaccination drive has been expanded to all adults with the inclusion of people above the age of 18 and below the age of 45. However, vaccinations have slowed over the past month due to a shortage of doses.
Currently, India is using two vaccines: Covishield (developed by AstraZeneca/Oxford and manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India) and Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN. SII CEO Adar Poonawalla has said the shortage will continue till July when production is expected to increase from 60-70 million per month to 100 million per month. Russia's Sputnik V has also been granted emergency approval in India.
