COVID-19: Health Min Harsh Vardhan to hold meet with states lagging behind in vaccination

In view of ever-ascending COVID-19 infections and to formulate curbing its further replication, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan is said to hold a meeting on Wednesday with Health Ministers of States which are lagging behind in COVID-19 vaccination. 

According to the health ministry, Dr. Harsh Vardhan will hold meetings with the Health Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Telangana. This surfaced after several States, including Maharashtra and Delhi have flagged shortage of vaccine doses at a time when COVID-19 cases have continually shown upward trend in an unprecedented manner. 

Health Ministry on Tuesday urged States to ensure all beneficiaries who have taken the first dose of COVID-19 are prioritised for the second dose and reserve at least 70 per cent of the shots supplied from the central pool for aforesaid purpose. States were also urged to minimise wastage of vaccine doses and also asked to undertake an awareness campaign for reinforcing of complete vaccination with two doses of the vaccine. It was also recommended to States to refrain and reorient vaccinators to ensure judicious usage of the vaccines. 

Dr. Vardhan took to his official handle on Twitter to state as follows,

COVID-19 Situation 

On Wednesday, India reported 3,48,421 new cases and 4,205 deaths in the last 24 hours. India’s total active COVID-19 caseload has dipped to 37,04,099 today. It now comprises 15.87% of the country's total positive cases. A  decline of 11,122 cases is recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in the last 24 hours. This is the second consecutive day of decline in the active cases.

13 States cumulatively account for 82.51% of India’s total Active Cases. According to Union Health Minister, over 17.51 Crore vaccine doses have been administered so far. He elaborated as follows,