Centre looks to procure 15 crore vaccine doses by August

The government expects to have 15 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses available by August, V K Paul, member, health, Niti Aayog, said on Tuesday, adding that whatever doses are being produced are being administered at present, and specific numbers will be available in the coming week.

Paul said the number of daily new positive cases has fallen below 30,000 after 132 days and is expected to drop further. The country reported 29,689 new cases on Tuesday.

He said vaccination for children can begin once vaccine makers supply clinical trial data and subject experts approve it. Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila are conducting clinical trials of their Covid-19 vaccines on children.

Between January and July, the government has supplied 45.73 crore doses to states and Union Territories, and another 24.11 lakh doses are in the pipeline. India has administered 44.19 crore doses till July 27. More than 2.28 crore balance and unutilised doses are still available with states/ UTs and private hospitals, and can be administered, he said.

In the new phase of vaccination that started in June, the government is supplying 75% of the vaccines produced in the country to states and UTs. The government has said the aspiration is to administer one crore vaccines per day.

The average weekly active Covid-19 cases in the country stand at 38,050. There are 22 districts in seven states that continue to be a cause for concern with a rise in cases. Seven districts in Kerala have been reporting an increasing trend in daily new cases over the last four weeks. Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam and Tripura also have districts showing an increase in cases. There are 54 districts in the country with a case positivity rate of more than 10%.