Over 129 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses provided to states, UTs through free of cost channel, says Centre

New Delhi: Over 129 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and Union Territories so far through free of cost channel and through direct state procurement category, the Union Ministry of Health said on Saturday. More than 21.65 crore balance and unutilized Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories, it said. The ministry asserted that the Union government was committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country. The vaccination 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, the Ministry of Health said. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them COVID-19 vaccines free of cost, it underlined.