Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that over 10% of the Covid-19 vaccines in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are being wasted and urged the authorities of these states to review the same.
At a meeting held with chief ministers, PM Modi stressed, "It should be reviewed in states that why's vaccine wastage happening? Monitoring must be done every evening and pro-active people should be contacted so that there's no wastage."
Modi attended a virtual meeting with all chief ministers to discuss the worrying spike in coronavirus cases in several states.
The Prime Minister said it was critical to stop what he called the "emerging second peak" of coronavirus with decisive steps including micro-containment zones and enforcement of Covid protocols.
"We should be proactive. Wherever necessary, micro-containment zones should be declared without hesitation," the PM said after his meeting with CMs regarding the surge in Covid-19 cases.
"If we don't stop Covid right now, then there could be a nationwide outbreak. We will have to immediately stop the emerging second wave of Corona and for this, we will have to take quick and decisive steps," warned PM Modi.
Modi has proposed the micro-zoning of an area instead of imposing a general lockdown. He also directed states to focus on scaling up testing and contact tracing to curb the Covid-19 spread.
"It is a matter of contemplation that why is there less testing in some areas only. Why is there less vaccination in these areas? I think it's a time of test for good governance...Our confidence should not turn into overconfidence. Our success should not turn into negligence," he further added.
Meanwhile, five states, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, continue to report a high number of daily COVID-19 cases, and account for 71.10 per cent of the 28,903 new infections reported on Wednesday, the Union Health Ministry said.
The sixth state with the highest number of infections is Kerala, which has been reporting a consistently declining trend over the last month.
However, over 3.5 crore (3,50,64,536) vaccine doses have been administered through 5,86,855 sessions, as per the provisional report till Wednesday 7 am, the ministry said.
These include 75,06,155 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have been given the 1st dose, 45,54,855 HCWs who have been administered the 2nd dose), 76,00,030 frontline workers (FLWs) who have taken the 1st dose) and16,47,644 FLWs who have been given the 2nd doses.
Besides, 21,66,408 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities and1,15,89,444 individuals aged more than 60 years have been administered the 1st dose.
