COVID-19: Centre targets 1 crore daily vaccinations from July-August; orders 100 cr doses

In order to vaccinate all its eligible citizens by December 2021, the Centre is targetting 1 crore vaccinations on a daily basis from July-August, revealed Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director-general Dr. Balaram Bhargava. Addressing a regular press brief on Tuesday, the ICMR chief stated that there was no shortage of vaccines and that by July-August, the Centre will have enough COVID-19 vaccines to innoculate 1 crore people per day. The vaccination currently stands at about 30 lakh doses per day. 

"We need to be patient. We have administered nearly as many vaccine doses as the United States. There is no shortage of vaccines. By mid-July or August, we will have enough doses to vaccinate 1 crore people per day. We are confident of vaccinating the whole adult population by December," said the ICMR chief. 

Centre orders 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses 

In order to achieve its mammoth target, the Centre has ordered 100 crore COVID-19 vaccines placing orders with different vaccine manufacturers approved in India. An order of 25 crore doses of COVISHIELD from the Serum Institute of India (SII) and 19 crore doses of COVAXIN from Bharat Biotech has been placed. This amounts to 44 crore vaccine doses from the two manufacturers. 

Additionally, from  Biotech-E which is set to begin its supply from September, the Centre has placed an advance order of 30 crore doses which takes the number to 74 crores. "We should wait for the company (Biological E) to announce the price of their vaccine (Corbevax). It will depend on our negotiation with the company, under the new policy. The financial aid that has been given will meet part of the price," Dr Paul revealed. 

With the announcement of the centralised vaccination policy, the Centre is expected to place an order of 22 crore vaccines for the 18-44 age group section. This takes the Centre's total order to roughly 100 crore doses.

Coronavirus cases in India

India continues to record a downward trend in COVID-19 cases. The nation registered 92,596 new cases of Coronavirus on Wednesday which took the total tally of active cases to 12,31,415. In 24 hours, 2,219 deaths and 1,62,664 recoveries were recorded.