Vaccines Will Last Only 3 Days: Kerala Chief Minister Writes To Centre

Kerala's COVID-19 vaccine stock will last only three more days and the state needs at least 50 lakh doses, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said in a letter to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

The letter by the Kerala Chief Minister comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across the country. Reports of hospitals in other states asking for more vaccine doses are becoming common as the lines of waiting people grow longer.

"Kerala is witnessing a rise in the number of Covid cases at present," Mr Vijayan wrote in the letter. "The stock (of vaccine) which is left with us is sufficient for conducting vaccination for the next three days only. This shortage of vaccine has been brought to the notice of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare... We are yet to get any additional supply of Covid vaccine," the Chief Minister wrote.

He said Kerala has so far got over 56 lakh doses of Covid vaccine - some 54 lakh Covishield and over 2 lakh Covaxin, adding the state has used a little over 48 lakh doses till Sunday.

"I request you to allot additional 50 lakh doses of Covid vaccine to our state in the next couple of days so that our vaccination programme proceeds uninterrupted for successfully controlling the pandemic," Mr Vijayan said in the letter to the Health Minister.

Wrote to the Honourable Minister for Health and Family Welfare @drharshvardhan ji requesting immediate allocation of 50L doses of #COVID19 vaccines to Kerala so that our vaccination programme proceeds uninterrupted, and we continue to successfully control the pandemic.

— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) April 12, 2021

Kerala reported 5,692 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total infections to 11.72 lakh.

"Out of those found infected today, 188 reached the state from outside, while 5,088 contracted the disease from their contacts. The sources of infection of 393 are yet to be traced. Twenty-three health workers are also among the infected," state Health Minister KK Shailaja said in a statement, according to news agency PTI.

India on Monday overtook Brazil as the country with the second-highest number of infections, after logging more than 168,000 new cases in a single day. Several states have also warned of tougher restrictions unless the public keeps to social distancing and the wearing of masks.