On June 21, 82.7 lakh vaccine doses were administered in a single day, day one of the Centre’s revised vaccination policy that allows centralized procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
The Centre is procuring 75 per cent of domestically available vaccines and distribute it to the states so that the states provide free jabs to people above 18 years of age at government vaccination centres.
PM Narendra Modi said, “Today’s record-breaking vaccination numbers are gladdening. The vaccine remains are strongest weapon to fight COVID-19.”
Today’s record-breaking vaccination numbers are gladdening. The vaccine remains our strongest weapon to fight COVID-19. Congratulations to those who got vaccinated and kudos to all the front-line warriors working hard to ensure so many citizens got the vaccine.
Well done India!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 21, 2021
The two major reasons for the soaring of vaccination numbers on Monday are: an increase in vaccine supply to states after the new guidelines came into force as well as an increase in the number of free vaccination centres, as said by top government sources to The Indian Express.
A top source told, “First we gave 2.95 crore doses to states to vaccinate any citizen who is above 18 years for free. Second, the capacities deployed by the states have been huge. More than 80,000 government vaccination centres were operational today.”
The officials added that the rise in the number of vaccinations should be seen within ‘the framework of availability’ of vaccines.
On Monday, over 68,000 vaccination sessions took place. Nevertheless, the participation of private sector was limited with around 2,000 sessions where recipients have to pay for their vaccine doses.
Officials hope for the numbers to further improve in the upcoming weeks.
