In light of the escalating COVID-19 cases in the country, the Serum Institute of India (SII) has advised the Centre to utilize the available 10 crore doses of Covishield supplied free of charge by GAVI under the COVAX facility, according to an official source.
The SII has written to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHF) stating that if the Indian government does not take these 10 crore free Covishield doses in a timely manner, it will result in the wasting of life-saving vaccinations during the pandemic outbreak.
SII is said in a letter to the ministry
Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government, and Regulatory Affairs at SII, is said to have indicated in a letter to the ministry that the SII had previously provided 14 crore doses of Covishield to the Government of India (GoI) through UNICEF under the GAVI “COVAX” service at no cost. GAVI has also offered 10 crore doses of Covishield free of charge to Gol under the COVAX facility, in addition to these 14 crore doses, the source said.
“As COVID-19 cases are on the rise in our country, using the 10 crores free Covishield vaccine doses made accessible by GAVI for our residents as soon as possible will be advantageous in reducing the spread of COVID-19. This will be critical in bringing the world’s largest immunization program to a successful conclusion under the visionary leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji “According to reports, Mr. Singh added.
The total cost of COVID-19 vaccine doses provided in India has surpassed 187.67 crores.
On April 10, India began delivering COVID-19 vaccine prophylactic doses to all adults over the age of 18 at private vaccination sites. The precaution dosage is available to anyone above the age of 18 who has waited nine months after receiving the second dose.
The nationwide immunization campaign began on January 16 of last year, with healthcare personnel being the first to be vaccinated. Frontline employees were first vaccinated on February 2 of last year.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination began on March 1 of last year for persons over the age of 60 and those aged 45 and up who have certain comorbid diseases.
From April 1 of last year, India mandated vaccination for all people above the age of 45. From May 1 of last year, the government decided to broaden its vaccination campaign by enabling anybody above the age of 18 to be inoculated against the viral disease. The latest round of vaccinations for adolescents aged 15 to 18 years old began on January 3.
From January 10, India began giving vaccine precaution doses to healthcare and frontline workers, as well as individuals aged 60 and older with comorbidities. On March 16, the country began immunizing youngsters aged 12 to 14 years old and abolished the comorbidity clause, making all persons over the age of 60 eligible for the Covid vaccine’s preventative dosage.