Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
The decision by the ministry to surrender the vaccine budget has come at a time when a new threat is reported coming from a fast-mutating and more infectious Omicron variant BF.7
The Health Ministry has decided to surrender 85 percent of the yearly budget allocated for the COVID-19 vaccination programme. As per government officials, the vaccine stock is sufficient to continue the vaccination drive for the next six months. The Indian Government hence is in no mood to procure more vaccines.
As per reports, more than 1.8 crore doses are available with the central and state government. Hence, amid the falling COvid-19 burden in the country, the ministry has surrendered 4,237 crores to the Finance Ministry.
As per official sources, the procurement of vaccines is not required as of now but it doesn’t mean that the country’s vaccination drive is over yet. As per reports, even if the government stock of vaccines gets over then also vaccines will be available in the market.
Vaccination status in the country
As per the government vaccination bulletin, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country have crossed the mark of 219.33 crores. As per reports, 98 percent of the adult population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 92 percent have been fully vaccinated. Among adolescents, 83.7 percent of those aged between 15-18 years have been vaccinated with the first dose while 72 per cent of them have received both doses. Of those in the age group of 12-14 years, 87.3 per cent of them have received the first dose while 68.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.
What about the booster doses?
Amid the fading scare of COVID-19 infections, over 84 per cent of India’s population is eligible for booster dose but only 27 per cent have received the shot.
Scare of the new variant
The decision by the ministry to surrender the vaccine budget has come at a time when a new threat is reported coming from a fast-mutating and more infectious Omicron variant BF.7. Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre detected the first case of the sub-variant in India.
