More than 81.39 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses provided to states and UTs, says Centre

New Delhi: More than 81.39 crore Covid vaccine doses have been provided to states and Union Territories so far, while 85,92,550 doses are in the pipeline, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. Over 4.23 crore balance and unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories for inoculation, it said. The Union government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of Covid vaccination throughout the country, the ministry said in a statement. The inoculation drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and Union Territories for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain, it added. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the states and Union Territories by providing them Covid vaccines free of cost, the statement said. Under the universalisation of the Covid vaccination drive, the Union government procures and supplies free of cost 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by vaccine manufacturers in the country to the states and Union Territories.