Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said that four more Indian pharmaceutical companies may start the vaccine production by October-November to accelerate the inoculation drive.
He said this in Parliament on Tuesday.
Giving the data on vaccine allocation, the Minister said that even 7 to 9 per cent of the doses that remain unutilised by the private hospitals are being used by the government vaccination centres.
Mandaviya added that Biologicals E and Novartis vaccines will also be available in the market in the coming days, while Zydus Cadila will soon get an emergency-use nod from an expert committee.
Replying to a query by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Amar Patnaik about the vaccine roll out plan for 12-18 years old, the Minister said, "The government's target is to vaccinate the entire population and constant efforts are being made to achieve this."
"Two companies -- Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute -- are supplying the vaccines to the government. Sputnik vaccine is also available and production of which has begun," added Mandaviya. He informed Parliament that India has administered 47 crore doses of vaccine so far.
However, the Health Ministry data showed that a total of 62,53,741 Covid vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours. The total number of vaccinated people against Covid-19 in India stands at 48,52,86,570 so far.
The ministry data pointed out further that around 50,37,22,630 vaccine doses have been provided to the States/UTs so far, through all sources and a further 49,19,780 doses are in the pipeline.
Around 2,60,17,573 balance and unutilized Covid vaccine doses are still available with the States/UTs and private hospitals to be administered.
Meanwhile, India on Wednesday took a high jump in daily Covid infection and reported a total of 42,625 new cases across the nation in 24 hours. India's total tally of Covid-19 cases stands at 3,17,69,132.
--IANS
avr/dpb
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU