Indian Government Did Not Consider Vaccine Stock, WHO Guidelines Before Allowing Vaccination For 18+ Age Group: Serum Institute Director
Pune, 22nd May 2021: Indian government granted permission for vaccination for people above 18-year-old from 1st May, but while giving this permission the central government did not consider the vaccine stock and WHO guideline on vaccination, said Suresh Jadhav, executive director of Serum Institute of India which manufactures Covishield vaccine.
He was speaking at an e-summit organised by Heal Health.
Jadhav said, “Initially, it was planned to give the vaccine to 30 crore people in the country, for which 60 crore vaccines were needed. But before achieving this target, the central government permitted vaccination for people above 45 years old and then the 18+ age group.”
He also said, “This is a lesson for us, before taking any decision we must consider the availability of vaccine and utilizes it properly.”
Jadhav also emphasized that it is necessary to take the vaccine but at the same time we should also follow the precautionary majors. Several people who got the vaccine doses have got infected with the virus. Though we have neutralised the Indian variant i.e double mutant of the virus, still, it can cause difficulty in the vaccination.
According to the information given by the central health ministry, a total of 19.32 crore have got the vaccine.
On Friday, 6.63 lakh people between the age of 18 to 44 were vaccinated with the first dose. Since the beginning of the third phase of vaccination, overall 92.73 lakh people in 36 states and union territories have been vaccinated.
