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Lata Rani, Correspondent
PATNA: Slow vaccination has been a worry in India despite the country experiencing a devastating second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The irony is that it is happening in a country which is home to the world s biggest producer of coronavirus vaccines.
According to official data released by the Health Ministry on Monday, more than 170 million people out of a population of 1.3 billion have been vaccinated in 114 days till May 10 (8pm) since the vaccination drive began on January 16.
What percentage of the population has been vaccinated?
That means roughly 13% of the population has been covered so far, while 87% still remains out of reach of the vaccines. Around 16 million of the vaccinated are healthcare workers and more than 21 million are frontline workers. So only around 153 million of the general public have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The percentage of the people getting both the doses of the vaccines remains abysmally low.
COVID-19: Bihar villagers block migrant workers from returning home gulfnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gulfnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Stocks are exhausted in several districts of Bihar, including West Champaran, Bhojpur and Muzaffarpur.
“The government has launched massive publicity campaigns in the areas urging the villagers to rush to the health centres and get the shots but when we reached there, we were told to go back homes since the vaccine stocks have run short,” said Kaihaiya Sah, a resident of Narkatiayaganj block in West Champaran district.
Villagers faced the same trouble at 13 health centres in Bhojpur district on Wednesday. The health authorities had set up various camps for the vaccination of the villagers in local schools but when the people rushed there, they were told about the shortage of vaccines.
Dubai: India reported a record 115,736 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, while New Delhi, Mumbai and dozens of other cities announced they are imposing curfews to try to slow the soaring infections.
India has recorded a total of 12.8 million coronavirus cases with deaths from COVID-19 rising by 630 - the most in four days - to 166,177, according to new health ministry data.
Some states, including Maharashtra and Odisha, have complained of a scarcity of vaccines during a second wave. Only those aged over 45 are being immunised at present. Vaccination centres have to close early due to a shortage of supplies, the western state s health minister, Rajesh Tope, told reporters, adding that stocks would run out in three days after the daily injection of over 450,000 doses.