At a time when vaccinations have been stopped or slowed down in several states, health ministry data reveals that the biggest vaccine wasters in the country are Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
The national average of wastage of doses in 6.3 percent, ANI reported.
“Whereas states have been urged repeatedly to keep vaccine wastage below one percent, many states such as Jharkhand (37.3 percent), Chhattisgarh (30.2 percent), Tamil Nadu (15.5 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (10.8 percent) and Madhya Pradesh (10.7 percent) are reporting much higher wastage than the national average.”Health ministry officials said
Jharkhand is the worst, a claim that Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren disputes, saying correct data could not be uploaded on CoWIN due to several issues.
Soren tweeted on 26 May, “As per total vaccine doses availability with Govt on Jharkhand till today, the current Vaccine Wastage proportion is only 4.65%. Vaccination data could not be fully updated to the central Co-Win Server/ Platform due to technical difficulties/glitches & the updation is in process.”
Chhattisgarh is the second-worst with 30.2 percent vaccine wastage and Tamil Nadu follows with 15.5 percent, according to central government data.
"In any big vaccination drive, some wastage is always factored in and that is used to buy and distribute vaccines. States are allocated vaccines according to the population and needs. The Wastage Multiple Factor is very important in deciding these figures," health ministry officers said, as reported by NDTV.
The factors for vaccine wastage are the doses passing expiry date, them being destroyed by extreme heat and cold or being stolen. Officials said that such carelessness must be avoided.
(With inputs from NDTV)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)