The Union health ministry on Wednesday said that Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were the top 3 contributors to India's Covid-19 vaccine wastage, which is currently at 6.5 per cent.
A vial of the Covid-19 vaccine contains a set number of doses that need to be administered within a few hours of opening the vile. Mismanagements of the vaccine vials during the cold storage of loss in transportation could also lead to wastage.
In its daily presser, the Union health ministry informed that Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were wasting the most Covid-19 vaccines.
The government has set the acceptable vaccine wastage limit at 10 per cent.
As per the data given by the ministry, Telangana has wasted 17.6 per cent of the Covid-19 vaccine given to the state, while Andhra Pradesh has let 11.6 per cent of the vaccine go to waste. The waste percentage in Uttar Pradesh was at 9.4 per cent.
These three states are followed by Karnataka which has wasted 6.9 per cent of the vaccine available to it. Karnataka figure is close to the national average of 6.5 per cent, the ministry data showed.
“The message we have shared with states is that vaccines are invaluable commodities. They are public health goods and therefore vaccines have to be optimally utilised. Vaccine wastage has to be drastically reduced. Any reduction in wastage means that you end up inoculating more people and therefore the chances of disrupting the chain of infection grow that much more,” Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.
The statement by the ministry comes shortly after the Centre lauded Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra for administering a health amount of vaccines till now.
The four states were commended for the job during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting all chief ministers on a spike in Covid-19 cases and vaccination drive.
'No dearth of vaccine in the country'
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told the media that there was no dearth of the Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
"We provided all details state-wise data every morning at 9 AM, how much vaccines provided to the states. In today's meeting with states, we provided data to those CMs. As far as vaccine exports are concerned, it is a mutual agreement between companies," he said.
"The Centre has provided 7.54 crore vaccine doses to the states till now. If someone is complaining despite that, then we can't comment on that," Rajesh Bhushan said, reacting to a question on why some state leaders have accused the Centre of limited vaccine supply.
'Fastest immunisation drive'
The health ministry officials said that India's Covid-19 vaccination drive was the fastest in the world.
"The United States started vaccination on December 14 and has given the jab to 10 crore people. India started this process on January 16 and we have provided vaccine to 3.58 crore people," they said.
The health secretary said that the vaccination drive in India was underway at over 50,000 hospitals across the country.
"On March 15, 8 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered across the globe. Out of this, 3.04 million or 36 per cent were administered only in India," the health secretary said.
‘Spike mostly in North and West India’
On the increase in daily Covid-19 cases from March 1-15, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said about 70 districts in 16 states have registered more than 150 per cent increase in active cases, while 55 districts in 17 states have registered 100-150 per cent rise in cases.
Most of these districts are in West and North India.
Elaborating on the rise in cases in states, he said, “If we look at Maharashtra, 60 per cent of all active cases are concentrated in Maharashtra and 45 per cent of new deaths are concentrated in Maharashtra.”
“On March 1, an average of 7,741 new cases were being reported. By March 15, the number increased to average 13,527.The positivity rate on March 1 used to be 11 per cent which rose to 16 per cent by March 15,” he said.
Noting that the high positivity rate is a matter of concern, he said the tests numbers are not increasing at the same rate as the positivity rate is increasing.
“So our advice to the states, especially Maharashtra, is that there is a need to increase the testing rate, specially the RT-PCR rate,” he said.
In Punjab on March 1, an average of 531 new cases was being reported. By March 15, the number increased to average 1338. The positivity rate has doubled and RT-PCR share is 89 per cent, he said.
In Chandigarh on March 1, an average of 49 new cases was being reported. By March 15, the number increased to average 111. The positivity rate has increased from 3.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent and RT-PCR share is 40 per cent.
“We would want a distinct increasing trend of tests in which RT-PCR share is substantially higher than the current 40 per cent share,” he said.
In Chattisgarhh on March 1, an average of 239 new cases was being reported. By March 15, the number increased to average 430. The positivity rate increased from 1.4 per cent to 2.4 per cent and RT-PCR share is 34 per cent. So, again, we would want the RT-PCR tests to increase to up to 70 per cent and also an overall increase in testing.
In Gujarat on March 1, an average of 398 new cases was being reported. By March 15, the number increased to average 689. The positivity rate increased from 2.4 per cent to 4 per cent and RT-PCR share is 50 per cent.
In Karnataka, on March 1, an average of 443 new cases was being reported. By March 15, the number increased to average 751. The positivity rate increased from 0.8 per cent to 1.3 per cent and RT-PCR share is 93 per cent.
To handle the increasing cases especially in 12 states, states have been advised to ensure strict adherence to mask wearing, physical distancing and hand hygiene along with greater vigilance and monitoring at the highest levels for all potential events where crowds gather.
They have asked to ensure clinical management in districts reporting higher deaths and efficient implementation of ‘test, track and treat’ strategy.
There should be significantly increased testing in all districts and an increase in the proportion of RT PCR tests to a minimum of 70 per cent.
“We are advising the states to ensure all close contacts of any positive person are traced, isolated and tested in 72 hours. They have asked to identify clusters, focus on surveillance and stringent implementation of containment zone approach and undertake priority vaccination of identified groups in districts reporting higher cases,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)