The Centre has asked states to prioritise those who are waiting for their second dose of vaccination at a virtual high-level review meeting taken by the Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. States were asked to reserve at least 70 per cent of the vaccines supplied to them for second dose vaccination and the remaining 30 per cent for the first shot. However, states have the liberty to enhance this to as much as 100 per cent.

According to an official statement, state-wise numbers on CoWIN have been shared with states for their planning purposes.

Meanwhile, states were also urged to minimise vaccine wastage. "While the overall levels have considerably reduced, there were many states which still needed to substantially reduce the wastage," the statement said. The Centre has suggested that the States/UTs retrain and reorient vaccinators to ensure the judicious usage of the vaccines. All wastage more than the national average hereafter is to be adjusted from the subsequent allocations to that State/UT.

Pending payments

In addition, given the payments pending from states to the private vaccine manufacturers, the states were advised to constitute a dedicated team at the state level of 2 or 3 senior officers to coordinate with vaccine manufacturers daily and secure state government supplies promptly. This team also coordinates with private hospitals to facilitate their procurement, thereby maintaining the momentum of the overall vaccination exercise in the state, the release said.

Besides this, the CoWIN platform is also being modified to better reflect the changing needs of the vaccination exercise. The states can download a second dose due report to better plan the completion of vaccination of the target groups.

“The district immunization officer (DIO) and COVID Vaccination Centre (CVC) Manager can increase the session capacity according to demand (which was capped at 100) and can also visualize the target group in their upcoming sessions. Beneficiaries without relevant photo ID cards like senior citizens at old-age homes, etc., can also be registered. The DIOs and CVC managers can also download vaccine utilization report (VUR),” the release further added.

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