Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu and Assam top the list of 10 states or UTs with maximum wastage of Covid-19 vaccines so far, the health ministry data suggests. The data reflects wastage in terms of the number of doses received by states and UTs. While Lakshadweep has wasted maximum 9.76 per cent of the total vaccines dispatched to the island, the southern state of Tamil Nadu and Assam follow with 8.83 per cent and 7.7 per cent wastage, respectively.
Manipur is on fourth place with wastage at 7.44 per cent; Haryana 5.72 per cent; Dadra and Nagar 4.99 per cent; Punjab 4.98 per cent; Bihar 4.95 per cent; Rajasthan 4.24 per cent; and Nagaland 4.13 per cent.
So far, the Centre has dispatched 16 crore vaccine doses (15,95,96,140) to states/UTs for free, of which 14.8 crore doses have been used and around 1 crore doses (1,06,19,892) are still available with the states/UTs.
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As per the government, over 57 lakh (57,70,000) vaccine doses will be received in addition by them in the next three days. The state of Maharashtra, which is the most affected state due to Covid-19, has received 1,58,62,470 doses so far. Of this, the total consumption including wastage (0.22 per cent) is 1,53,56,151.
This means the state still has 5,06,319 vaccine doses that are yet to be administered. "Furthermore, 5,00,000 doses of COVID vaccine are in the pipeline for delivery in the next three days," the health ministry statement said.
The government is gearing up for Phase 3 of the Covid-19 vaccination programme from May 1. Registration for the new eligible population groups will commence today from 4 pm. Potential beneficiaries can either register directly on CoWIN portal (cowin.gov.in) or through the Aarogya Setu app.
India reported the biggest ever spike of 3,60,960 new COVID-19 cases, 3,293 deaths and 2,61,162 discharges in the last 24 hours, the Union health ministry data suggested. With the current rise in cases, India's case positivity rate has reached 21 per cent. As of now, the total cases stand at 1,79,97,267. As many as 1,48,17,371 people have recovered. The death toll in India has also crossed the 2-lakh mark at 2,01,187.
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