Centre advises states, UTs to expedite Covid-19 vaccination program; announces campaign to raise vaccine uptake

The Union Health Secretary has advised those States and UTs who already have extra doses to utilise timely before the expiry of vaccines, reported ANI.

New Delhi: Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday (May 20, 2022) reviewed the coronavirus vaccination program with all the states and union territories. During a meeting, Rajesh Bhushan advised them to expedite Covid-19 vaccination, According to ANI report, the Union Health Ministry is also planning to start "Har Ghar Dastak-2.2" campaign for two months June and July for the same. India`s cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 191.96 crore but still a large number of population is unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

As per the Union Health Ministry’s data on Covid-19 vaccine, more than 193.53 crore vaccine doses are provided to States and UTs and over 16.72 crore unutilized vaccine doses are still available with them.

"The Union Health Secretary has advised those States and UTs who already have extra doses to utilise timely before the expiry of vaccines," said sources.

The government of India, through the nationwide vaccination drive, has been continuously supporting the States and UTs by providing them with COVID vaccines free of cost.

Over 3.24 crore doses of vaccine have been administered in the age group of 12-14 years. India has reported 2,259 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours and the recovery rate currently stands at 98.75 per cent. 

Meanwhile, India reported 2,259 new Covid-19 cases taking the total tally of coronavirus infections to 4,31,31,822, while the active virus cases declined to 15,044, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. Today’s virus tally is slightly lower than that of yesterday. A decline of over 350 cases has been observed in the active caseload in the span of the last 24 hours. The death toll climbed to 5,24,323 with 20 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. 

(With agency inputs)