No shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in India, Harsh Vardhan

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, April 07, 2021:     Hours after Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh revealed that they have sent an SOS alert to the Centre over Covid-19 vaccine scarcity, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan clarified that there was no dearth of vaccine stock in the country.

 

Speaking to Aaj Tak, the Union health minister said that the states have been told that they will get the vaccines as per their requirement. "The Centre will not allow any state to face vaccine scarcity," he said.

Harsh Vardhan’s statement came hours after Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope told media that the state may run out of Covid-19 vaccine in three days.

"We have 14 lakh vaccine doses that will last us only for three days. After that, vaccination may come to a standstill. We need a stock of 40 lakh vaccine doses per week," Rajesh Tope said. The state minister also said that he had raised this concern during his meeting with Union Health Minster Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday.

Andhra Pradesh has also said that it may run out of vaccine doses by Thursday.

Reacting to Rajesh Tope’s statement, Harsh Vardhan said that the state minister’s concerns were addressed during the meeting on Tuesday.

"No state is facing vaccine scarcity and neither we will allow them to face it. All states are being supplied with Covid-19 vaccine as per their requirements," Harsh Vardhan said.

"This was communicated to all states at the beginning of the meetig on Tuesday. I had assured them that there would be no shortage of vaccines and the supply will continue as per requirement," the Union health minister said.

As per Maharashtra government, the state currently has a stock of only 14 lakh vaccines that will last only for three days. Similarly, Andhra Pradesh currently only has 3.7 lakh vaccine doses. The state government expects that it will be exhausted by Thursday.

Courtesy:India Today