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Updated Mar 17, 2021 · 06:48 pm A healthcare worker receives a shot of coronavirus vaccine in Odisha on January 16. | Danish Siddiqui/ Reuters
The Ministry of Health on Wednesday said that 17.6% of coronavirus vaccines were wasted or spoiled in Telangana in the two months since India started its inoculation drive. This was followed by Andhra Pradesh, where 11.6% of the total doses were wasted.
India’s overall percentage of vaccine wastage was 6.5%, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press briefing. He urged state authorities to work toward reducing such wastage drastically.
NITI Aayog Member (Health) VK Paul said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, had expressed his disappointment over the high wastage rates, during his meeting with the chief ministers on Thursday. “It is a precious commodity,” Paul said. “We have to understand that.”