Union Health Secretary Shri Rajesh Bhushan chaired a high-level meeting today with Health Secretaries and senior immunization officials of 15 States/UTs of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana through video conference (VC) today. Nodal representatives from the two COVID vaccine manufactures, Ms/ Bharat Biotech and M/s Serum Institute of India (SII), were also present.

In light of the revised guidelines for universalisation of the countrywide COVID Vaccination Program and recent advisories, the progress of vaccine procurement and administrationby the Private COVID Vaccination Centers (PCVCs)in these states/UT was reviewed. States were again informed of the usage of Co-WIN platform as the backend management tool for the order placements. States/UTs are required to aggregate this demand.

Union Health Secretary termed the slow pace of vaccination through the PCVCs as a cause of serious worry. He highlighted the areas of concern and advised the States on the following:

1. Many Private COVID Vaccination Centers (PCVCs) have not placed any indent for the earmarked quantum of COVID vaccines. Many State Governments need to facilitate the vaccine procurement by the PCVC. States were advised to review the status on a daily basis and ensure that indents for the earmarked quantum are quickly placed with the private vaccine manufacturers.
2. In many cases while the indent for the COVID vaccine has been placed with the state government, payment has not been made for the entire amount of indented vaccines. In some cases, no payment has been made for the entire indented quantity. State governments and the PCVCs were advised to ensure that the gap between the indented quantity and payment towards their procurement reduced to zero.
3. In some states, the quantity of vaccines paid for has not been physically lifted by the states/PCVCs. The states/PCVCs have to quickly ensure lifting of dispatched doses.
4. In some States, wherever vaccine doses have been lifted by PCVCs, the actual administration of COVID vaccines is seen to be less than the vaccine quantity lifted. States and PCVCs were advised to review this and ensure that the balance of unutilized vaccine doses are quickly administered.

Highlighting the slow pace of vaccination through the PCVCs, States were advised to review status and progress on vaccine procurement by PCVCs on a daily basis. They were advised to ensure speedy and effective coordination between the PCVCs and the vaccine manufactures to remove bottlenecks, if any. It was pointed out that advance visibility of the COVID vaccines to the States by Union Health Ministry is in turn required to be communicated to the citizens by States.

Union Health Ministry has organized five regional workshops to orient nodal officers of the States and PCVCs for placing indent on Co-Win, payment for the quantum of doses etc. States were advised to indicate if any further refresher training sessions are required. These shall be organized based on requirement of the States.During the review meeting, roles of the States/UTs for demand aggregation and roles of the COVID Vaccine manufacturers in quick dispatch were further outlined. 

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