New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry in a report to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Friday said that major states like Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Puducherry, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur have utilised less than 70 per cent Covid-19 vaccination in comparison to other states consuming 90 per cent vaccination.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan will chair an urgent review meeting with the states and Union Territories on Saturday to suggest they expedite the vaccination process. A senior official in the health ministry said that representatives from States and UTs will be present in the meeting scheduled to be held at 11 a.m. "The Health Secretary today held a review meeting with States and UTs regarding utilisation of telemedicine process," the official said.
The health ministry, according to the sources, is taking up the matter of "poor consumption of vaccines" seriously as the government target to vaccinate all adult population in India by December this year. The health ministry report comes a day after India breached 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses mark.
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As per the health ministry report available with ETV Bharat, out of 73,167,435 vaccines supplied to the Bihar government, the state has reported consumption of 64,380,110 doses till Thursday. The report said that against the supply of 21,752,490 Covid 19 vaccines, Jharkhand has so far consumed 18,412,385 vaccines.
Similarly, West Bengal has also reported poor consumption of Covid-19 vaccines. "So far, the state has been provided with 67,301,890 doses of vaccines out of which only 61, 546,655 vaccines have been consumed," the health ministry report said.
Against the availability of 133,184,135 vaccines, Uttar Pradesh was able to consume 120,604,680 doses. Similarly, Tamil Nadu also reported below 70 per cent vaccination in spite of getting 56,099,500 doses. The state has been able to consume 50,928,495 doses of Covid-19 doses.
Congress-ruled Punjab also reported utilisation of less than 70 per cent doses against the total supply of 23,241,070. The state was able to utilize 21,251,890 doses of vaccines.
Similarly, Puducherry and a few states in the Northeast including Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur have also recorded less than 70 per cent vaccination ever since the nationwide vaccination process started on January 16 this year.
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The health ministry report submitted to the PMO further said that states and UTs like Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Chandigarh have reported utilisation of more than 90 per cent doses of the available doses.
States like Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan Telangana and Tripura recorded consumption of 70-90 per cent doses of available vaccines.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Dr Jayesh M Lele, general secretary of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said that the states and UTs must take aggressive steps for total consumption of available vaccines. "The State government must adopt active steps for proper consumption of available vaccines. In fact, there should be proper planning and coordination at the local and district level for Covid-19 vaccination," said Dr Lele. He said that an active approach for vaccination is a must "if India aims to inoculate all its adult population by December this year."
