Vaccination drive may slow down in parts of Andhra due to unavailability of COVID-19 vaccines

The Andhra Pradesh government wrote to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare requesting to supply 1 crore vaccine doses in the month of April

The vaccination drive may slow down in parts of Andhra Pradesh due to a shortfall of Covid-19 vaccines in Nellore and West Godavari, sources told ANI on Thursday.

On the condition of anonymity, an officer in the health department of Andhra Pradesh claimed that there are shortages of vaccine in Nellore and West Godavari districts. “Presently the state has 3.7 lakh doses, the state’s consumption per day is 1.3 lakh doses (could be more, up to 3 lakh but is less due to the scarcity of the doses ). So going at this level, a state could run out of vaccines by Thursday,” the officer said.

Though there are reports of vaccine shortage in some parts of the Anantapur and Guntur districts also, the government officials did not confirm the news.

On March 26, the Andhra Pradesh government wrote to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare requesting to supply 100 lakh (1 crore) vaccine doses in the month of April to ensure sufficient doses are available in the state. The state government had informed the Centre that it is planning to vaccinate 5 lakh persons per day across Andhra Pradesh.