Prioritise 2nd dose of vaccination: Centre to States
   Date :12-May-2021

2nd dose of vaccination_1
 
 
 
NEW DELHI :
 
THE Centre appealed to States on Tuesday to prioritise vaccinating those due for second dose of COVID-19 vaccine and reserve at least 70 per cent of the shots supplied from the central pool for the purpose. States have also been urged to minimise wastage of vaccine doses, the Health Ministry said in a statement. All wastage more than the national average hereafter is to be adjusted from the subsequent allocations to that State or Union Territory.
 
The urgent need to address a large number of beneficiaries waiting for second dose of vaccine was stressed in a meeting held by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Dr R S Sharma, the Chairman of Empowered Group on Technology and Data Management to Combat COVID-19, with state officials to review the status of COVID-19 vaccination on Tuesday.
 
States were urged to “ensure all beneficiaries who have taken the first dose are prioritised for the second doses”, the Ministry said in the statement. In this regard, States can reserve at least 70 per cent of the vaccines supplied to them from the Government of India channel for second dose vaccination and the remaining 30 per cent for first dose. “This however is indicative. States have the liberty to enhance this to as much as 100 per cent. State-wise numbers on CoWIN have been shared with states for their planning purposes.