New Delhi: Ahead of the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination beginning May 1, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Wednesday said that the state needs at least seven crore doses of vaccines to innoculate people between 18-45 years of age in the state.
"The state is capable of vaccinating as many as seven lakh people in a day. We have developed storage facilities for the COVID-19 vaccines. 2,444 cold chain points have been developed in the state," said Sharma.
"There are 3.25 crore people in the state between 18-45 yrs of age. So we will need seven crore doses of vaccine. Our officers spoke to SII, they did book 3.75 crore doses. SII told our officials that they will not be able to supply the order of the central government till May 15...so how they would be able to supply us," the Rajasthan health minister said.
Sharma also said that there is confusion regarding the price of the COVID-19 vaccines. "Why there should be different rates of the vaccines in one country." Under phase three of the vaccination drive, everyone above 18 years of age will be eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 from May 1, the central government had announced on April 19.
Read: SII cuts price of Covishield vaccine for states
The registration for the same began at 4 pm on Wednesday. According to official data, there are 1,55,182 active COVID-19 cases in Rajasthan.
42 ventilators not yet utilised in Sirohi
In major negligence of the health care system, at least 42 ventilators that were purchased by the district health administration are yet to be utilised. When ETV Bharat asked district chief medical officer Rajesh Kumar, he said that an amount of Rs 26 lakh was handed over to the hospital but the equipment necessary to run the ventilator is yet to be procured.
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