More than 44 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines were wasted in India till April 11 with Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Punjab, Manipur and Telangana topping the list, the Health Ministry has disclosed.
The information given in response to an application filed under the RTI Act by Vivek Pandey, reveals that a total of 44.78 lakh doses were wasted out of the 10.34 crores shots used in various states of India till April 11 this year. The inoculation drive against the dreaded coronavirus pandemic had started on Jan 16.
Tamil Nadu topped the list with the highest wastage at 12.10%, followed by Haryana (9.74%), Punjab (8.12%), Manipur (7.8%), and Telangana (7.55%).
States like Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mizoram and West Bengal, on the other hand, stood out in sharp contrast as there was "zero wastage" of COVID-19 vaccine doses in these states, according to the RTI reply.
A senior official told Indianarrative.com, that the wastage has taken place because of carelessness on part of the administrating staff. These states did not properly follow the standard operating procedure as advised by the Centre, he lamented.
