Centre Junks Reports About Missing Half-Billion Vax Target By July 31

The government today dismissed media reports that claimed that India will miss the end-July target of administering 50 crore Covid vaccine doses as “ill-informed and misrepresenting” and asserted that over 51.60 crore vaccine doses will be supplied from January to July 31.

The Health Ministry issued a statement referring to recent media reports alleging that the country will miss the target of administering half-a-billion (50 crore) doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by July-end, while pointing out that the government had stated in May that it would make 516 million (51.60 crore) vaccine shots available by the end of this month.

“These reports are ill-informed and have clearly misrepresented the facts,” the statement said.

“The figures of 516 million vaccine doses might have been picked up from various sources which informed about the likely availability of the vaccine doses from January to July-end,” it added.

“The facts are that a total of more than 516 million (over half-billion) vaccine doses will indeed be supplied from January 2021 to 31st July, 2021,” the ministry said.

It added that the vaccine doses are supplied to the states in accordance with the advance allocation plan and they are informed about it in advance. The vaccines are supplied to the states in various schedules throughout the month.

“Therefore, availability of 516 million doses till end of a particular month does not mean that every dose supplied till that month is going to be consumed/administered. There would be supplies in pipeline, which should be available for next few days till the next supplies of vaccine doses materialise in a particular state/district/sub-district to keep vaccination going on,” the statement said.

A total of 45.7 crore doses have been supplied to the states and Union territories from January till date and an additional 6.03 crore doses are expected to be supplied by July 31. This will amount to a total of 51.73 crore doses supplied from January to July 31, it added.

“It should be appreciated that India has crossed the landmark of 440 million (44.19 crore) doses administered, which is the largest number achieved in the world and (this) has been done at quite a brisk pace too. Out of these, 9.6 crore are cases where both the doses have been administered,” the statement said.

A total of 11.97 crore Covid vaccine doses were administered in June. For the month of July (as on July 26), a total of 10.62 crore doses have been administered.

It is the endeavour of the government to provide vaccination to the eligible citizens in the shortest possible time according to the availability of the vaccines, the statement said.