Vaccinations Declined During Implementation Of Liberalized Strategy: Centre

During the implementation of "Liberalized Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy" from May 1 to June 20, the total number of doses administered declined with states saying they faced difficulties in managing the funding and logistics of direct procurement of vaccines, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.

The total number of doses administered declined from 8.99 crore in April to 6.10 crore in May, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a written reply.

States through multiple communications intimated that they were facing difficulties in managing the funding and logistics of direct procurement of vaccines, he said.

This in turn had an impact on the total number of doses administered, he said.

Multiple states had repeatedly demanded that they be allowed to procure vaccines directly and administer them as per their requirements, he said.

In this context and based on field experiences "Liberalized Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy" was being implemented from May 1 to June 20.

Under this strategy, the government was procuring 50 per cent of the monthly vaccine production and continued to provide it to states free of cost for administering to priority groups. The state government and private hospitals were also empowered to directly procure the remaining 50 per cent vaccine.

In view of the experiences gained from implementation of "Liberalized Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy" and the repeated requests received from states, the guidelines for National COVID Vaccination Program were reviewed and "Revised Guidelines for Implementation of National COVID Vaccination Program" were issued on June 8, the minister said.

These guidelines became effective from June 21, according to which the government of India is procuring 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by the manufacturers in the country and cleared by Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL).

These vaccines are provided free of cost to states and union territories to vaccinate all adult Indians more than 18 years of age.

As on July 20, a total of 34.82 crore doses have been provided free of cost by the Centre to all states and Union territories since the beginning of vaccination drive and 4.57 crore doses have been procured directly by states and Union territories during May 1 to June 20, the minister stated.

"During the implementation of ''Liberalized Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy'' the total number of doses administered declined from 8.99 crore in April 2021 to 6.10 crore in May 2021. States through multiple communications intimated that they were facing difficulties in managing the funding and logistics of direct procurement of vaccines.

"This in turn had an impact on the total number of doses administered," Mr Mandaviya said.

On all COVID-19 related medical equipment and supplies, including oxygen concentrators and medicines, demanded by states and union territories, he said a total of 11,197 oxygen concentrators have been supplied and further one lakh oxygen concentrators are being procured.

Further, 1571 Oxygen Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants are being installed across states and union territories. The details of oxygen concentrators and PSA plants is at Annexure-3. In addition, 44,028 ventilators, 122.51 lakh vials of Remdesivir, 1,013.25 lakh doses of HCQ tablet, 14,23,085 Amphotericin-B injection and 54,836 Tocilizumab injections have been supplied to states and union territories.

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