The country’s new Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya,  on Wednesday said that the supply of vaccines to states and UTs has been increased to 13.5 crore doses in July from 11.46 crore in June and there was no shortage of shots as is being made out by some political leaders.

Mandaviya said political interests were deliberately creating misinformation and panic among people, as they were not mentioning “the correct numbers in the advance information being provided by the Centre to the states regarding the availability of vaccines.”

He said the states were being informed well in advance of the exact number of doses they would be getting so that they could plan their vaccine schedules and people do not face problems.

Also read:  Sputnik V & Covishield mix-and-match results likely by July-end

However, “if despite getting advance information on the vaccine availability, mismanagement and long queues of vaccination beneficiaries are being seen, it is clearly evident what the real issue is and who is responsible for this state of affairs,” the health minister said.

Giving details of the Centre’s planning, Mandaviya said based on the discussion with manufacturers, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had informed all States/UTs on June 19, 2021, regarding the number of doses of the vaccine to be made available to States and UTs in July.

Also read:  As more jabs will yield more jobs, India will avoid vaccine exports to fight Covid-19

Subsequently, on June 27 and July 13, the States were also informed in advance about the availability of vaccines every day for the first and second fortnight of July. This was done so that States are aware of the time and quantity of doses and thereby plan the vaccination drive in a better and effective manner at the State/District level, he explained.