CoWIN Head Acknowledges COVID Vaccine Shortage, Says It’s Temporary Problem

Picture courtesy AIR

New Delhi: On a day when Union Minister Prakash Javadekar claimed that everyone in India will be vaccinated by end of this year, the head of CoWIN platform RS Sharma said that the pace of vaccination will pick up soon.

Acknowledging that there is a vaccine crunch in the country currently, the chairperson of the empowered committee on COVID-19 vaccination said the shortage of doses is a temporary problem and that it’s not long before inoculation for the 18-45 age group will be speeded up.

Sharma observed that the problem is occurring specifically for the 18-45 age group.

“The system is inclusive. The fact is that more than half of the population aged above 45 years who have gotten vaccinated are walk-in registrations. This is a temporary problem,” ANI quoted Sharma as saying.

States like Delhi, Jharkhand and Punjab went on record to state that they had to stop vaccination over the last couple of days due to a shortage of doses.

Those who are above 18 are eligible to get the jab from May 1, but only a low percentage of the 18-45 age group has so far been lucky enough to have been vaccinated.

The Centre, on the other hand, has repeatedly stated that the states have been provided enough vaccines to keep the process rolling.