Stock insufficient, may have to halt vaccination: Rajasthan CM

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said the number of COVID-19 doses available in the state is insufficient to carry on vaccination and due to this, inoculation will have to be stopped in many districts on Saturday.

He also said that the Centre's claim of no shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in the country is wrong and demanded that a status report on availability of doses be made public.

'Rajasthan leads among all states in vaccination of people above 60 years of age. Rajasthan has received 1,07,40,860 COVID-19 vaccine doses from the central government till April 6.

'Of these, 2,15,180 vaccines have been made available to the army; 91,55,370 dosages have been used till April 8. About 4,34,888 dosages were wasted, which is less than half of the 10 per cent limit allowed by the central government,' Gehlot said in a statement.

The chief minister said that after Friday's vaccination, there are only about five lakh vaccine doses left in the state which are insufficient for further vaccination.

The central government has proposed the next consignment of 3.83 lakh doses of vaccine on April 12.

Due to this, vaccination work will have to be stopped in many districts in Rajasthan on Saturday, Gehlot said.

Statements made by Union Ministers Amit Shah and Ravi Shankar Prasad that there is no shortage of vaccines in the country is factually wrong, he said in the statement.

Gehlot said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for celebrating 'Teeka Utsav' from April 11 to April 14.

But how will this happen as vaccines are not available in many states, he said.

'In such a way, how can the 'Teeka Utsav' be celebrated?' Gehlot asked.

He said in such a situation, the central government should clearly state publicly about the lack of vaccines.

'No politics is being done in the work of vaccination, but it is clear from the facts that there is a shortage of vaccines in many states. The central government should clarify the status of vaccine doses in public,' the chief minister said.

Gehlot said that Rajasthan has been a pioneer in coronavirus management and vaccination since the beginning.