NEW DELHI: Up to 86% of the eligible population of India have received the first dose of the Covid vaccine and the government would like to see 100% vaccination at the earliest, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Friday.
The minister shared data on Covid vaccination levels in other countries, including the US, Germany and France, and said India is doing well on the vaccination front.
In response to supplementary questions in the Lok Sabha, Mandaviya also replied that 7 million vaccines lie with the states and also warned of possible vaccination reluctance, which could be triggered by claims of health complications after vaccination.
During Question Time, he said that 86% of the eligible population received the first dose of Covid and “we wish the vaccination to be 100% at the earliest”.
When asked about Omicron, he said that studies were ongoing and that it was only after the studies were completed that it was known which vaccine was how effective against the new variant.
Currently, 23 cases of Omicron have been reported in the country, while a total of 59 countries have reported such cases worldwide.
There are currently 36 genome sequencing laboratories in the country. These labs can perform 30,000 genome sequencing and capacity will be increased with the help of private labs, Mandaviya said.
In a written response, he said that the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) had scientific evidence regarding vaccine dosing schedules and the need for a justification for booster vaccination consider and consider dose.
On December 6th, “about 80.02 billion had vaccine,” he added.
The Covid vaccination campaign started in January of this year.
