COVID-19: Lakshadweep tops vaccine wastage list followed by Tamil Nadu and Assam

As per the Central government data, the Union Territory of Lakshadweep has recorded the highest wastage of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the country as of May 6, 2021. While Lakshadweep wasted 9.76 per cent of its doses, it was followed by Tamil Nadu (8.83 per cent), Assam (7.70 per cent), Manipur (7.44 per cent), Haryana (5.72 per cent) and Dadra Nagar Haveli (4.99 per cent). In contrast, only Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mizoram and Odisha reported zero vaccine wastage. As per the data, the Centre supplied 17,15,42,410 doses to all States till May 6 out of which approximately 16,26,10,905 doses have been consumed.

The overall vaccine wastage assumes a lot of significance as multiple State governments have been complaining about the paucity of doses to inoculate its population. Maharashtra tops the list of states who received the most number of vaccine doses (1,72,62,470) followed by Uttar Pradesh (1,45,81,270), Rajasthan (1,39,87,360) and Gujarat (1,36,71,790). The data also reveals that Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha will garner a huge share of the total doses in the pipeline for distribution to all states. 

COVID-19 vaccination policy

Apart from COVISHIELD and COVAXIN, the DCGI accepted the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, paving way for the approval of Sputnik V on April 12. Moreover, the Union government declared that those vaccines that have been granted emergency approval for restricted use by USFDA, EMA, UK MHRA, PMDA Japan, or which are listed in WHO (Emergency Use Listing) will be granted emergency use approval in India. In a huge announcement on April 19, the Centre relaxed the age bar for vaccination from May 1 onwards and mentioned that vaccine manufacturers can supply 50 per cent of its doses to state governments and in the open market.

The private hospitals shall have to procure their supplies of the COVID-19 vaccines exclusively from this quota. At the same time, vaccination shall continue at Government of India vaccination centres for healthcare and frontline workers and those above 45 years. Additionally, the Centre stated that it will allocate vaccine doses to the states from the remaining 50% quota based on factors such as the number of active cases, speed of administration and vaccine wastage.