7 states have asked Centre for more vaccines to cover second dose in May

At least seven state governments have asked for urgent replenishment of vaccine stocks from the Centre, saying their current supplies are insufficient to cover those due for their second shot this month in the 45-plus age group.

These states—Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha—have told the health ministry that they are short of vaccines even to cover those due for their second dose in the first two weeks of the month.

The health ministry, which has asked the states to prioritise administering the second dose of the vaccine, said states are made aware of the supplies in advance and will be catered to accordingly.


“Supplies to states would be replenished periodically. The states are conveyed in advance the fortnightly supplies they would receive,” a senior health ministry official told ET.

According to the health ministry directives, a state should assign 70% vaccines towards the second jab and 30% to the first.

But some of these states have pointed out that they are 50% short of the required doses for the beneficiaries. In Andhra Pradesh, 1.29 million beneficiaries are due for a second shot till May 15.

According to data shared with ET, the state has given the second shot to 466,261 beneficiaries and is still to cover 827,469 beneficiaries.

However, the state has been assured of 765,360 doses of vaccine—690,360 of Covishield and 75,000 Covaxin.

“There is a supply issue, especially with Covaxin. We had been assigned 227,000 of Covaxin but we have been conveyed that we would get 75,000 only. This is not enough to cover all second doses till May 15. We have told the Centre to provide us more,” an Andhra Pradesh spokesperson told ET. The state has a target population of 2.3 million second doses to cover in this month.

Telangana has to cover 1 million beneficiaries with second doses till May 15. A state government official told ET that Telangana has been assigned 390,000 doses till May 15, which are not enough to cover the beneficiaries due.

In Odisha, which is also witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases during the second wave, 1.8 million beneficiaries were due for Covishield vaccine as on May 5. The state has 104,070 doses of Covishield which is used across 30 districts and 300,180 Covaxin doses.

“We have conveyed to the Centre that we do not have enough to cover the beneficiaries. We are prioritising second doses but we need to cover 1.8 million and have 104,070 Covishield doses,” said Odisha National Health Mission director Shalini Pandit.

Haryana has been unable to provide slots for the second jab in all its districts due to vaccine shortage. In most districts, slots have been given for only the next day. Haryana had to administer 462,287 second doses as of May 1. The number would increase by May 15. “We have been assigned 550,000 doses (both Covishield and Covaxin) till May 15. Today we have received 150,000. The problem is with the supply from manufacturers,” Rajeev Arora, Haryana’s additional chief secretary for health, told ET.

The system of vaccine supply has changed from May 1 and it is taking some time to settle down. We hope to cover our targeted beneficiaries for second dose by opening more slots,” Rajeev Arora, Haryana’s additional chief secretary for health, told ET.

Karnataka, another high caseload state that has been asked to ramp up its vaccination, is also facing similar issues. The state has told the Centre that it has covered less than 25% beneficiaries in the 60-plus age group with the second dose. The coverage in the 45-60 year-age group for second doses stood at less than 10%. With about 400,000 doses in stock, Karnataka has to cover 1 million second doses. According to sources, Delhi and Kerala have also conveyed similar vaccine supply issues.