Over 23 lakhs Covid-19 Vaccine Doses Wasted in India: Health Officials

New Delhi: Over 7 crore vaccine doses have been provided by the Centre to states so far, out of which out which more than 3.46 crore vaccine doses have been administered. Till date, around 6.5% of Covid vaccines have gone to waste according to health officials. Over 23 lakh vaccine doses wasted.

The Centre has asked states to encourage optimum utilisation of vaccines and to significantly curtail squandering after India witnessed a vaccine wastage of 6.5%. Each Covishield vial has 10 doses in total, while a Covaxin vial contains 20 doses each dose being 0.5 ml (for one person). Once opened, all doses have to be administered within four hours, otherwise, it goes to waste and the remaining doses have to be destroyed.

The vaccine wastage in India can be largely be attributed to low turnout beneficiaries turning up to get vaccinated. Since the vaccines need to be utilised within four hours of being opened, it is vital for vaccinators to coordinate the flow of beneficiaries.