Lucknow, June 9, 2021.*

In Spite of being the most populous state, Uttar Pradesh is setting new daily records in vaccination while states like Punjab, Rajasthan and Chandigarh amongst others have ‘underutilized’ doses of Covid-19 vaccine that have been supplied to them. Daily vaccination rates in Uttar Pradesh have “sky-rocketed” ever since the massive immunisation drive ‘Mission June’ was launched by CM Yogi. The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the State exceeded 2.11 crore, with over 4.30 lakh doses being administered on Tuesday. Notably, the vaccination drive in Uttar Pradesh has seen a remarkable jump, leaving other states far behind in the run.

On June 8, around 27,04,517 doses of vaccine were given all over the country, of which Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of 4,30,616 doses administered in 24-hours.  Maharashtra holds the second rank with 2,65,314, followed by Gujarat(2,55,133), West Bengal (2,52,989) and Karnataka (2,41,717).

According to the Central Government data, at least nine states---including Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra And Delhi, majorly underutilised vaccine doses supplied to them between January and March, causing a lag in the immunisation drive against the Covid-19 pandemic. This clearly shows that the problem is lack of better planning by these states . On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, is aggressively carrying out the vaccination drive. With the launch of ‘Mission June’ targeting one crore people, Uttar Pradesh crossed the milestone of administering 2 crore doses of vaccine, thereby making it a pioneer in the current vaccination process in the country. Till now, the state has administered 2,11,50,258 doses of vaccine against COVID-19.

The Daily Vaccine dose count has sprung in June as the state sees a record high with each passing day. On June 7 as well, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of vaccine doses  administered in a day, leading the country with more than 4.57 lakh doses. So far, under Mission June, Uttar Pradesh has given over 29 lakh doses of vaccine in a period of 8 days only, which is encouraging.

While several states demanded that the vaccination drive be widened, even though they were unable to utilise the doses provided by the central government. Uttar Pradesh Government, on the other hand, procured vaccines from the companies and emerged as a leader with over 48 lakhs vaccinated in the 18-44 age category, the highest in the country so far. In the last 24-hour, over 2,29,994 doses were given in this category.

Meanwhile, while reviewing the COVID-19 situation in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed the move of the Prime Minister on taking back control of Covid-19 vaccination from the states and providing free vaccines to all from June 21. “The Prime Minister has announced free vaccination for all age groups from 21st June. This effort of his is going to give further impetus to vaccination”. The CM also directed the officials to  keep contacting the central government and get proper guidelines in this regard. 

UP Govt sets the target of vaccinating 10 crore people in the next three months.

Emphasising that only a massive Covid vaccination programme on a war footing can help to stop the third wave of the pandemic, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked the officials that the vaccination capacity in the state must be increased by three times and take it to 10 lakh doses per day in July.He has asked the officials to prepare a district-wise strategy to meet the target of 10 lakh doses a day in July. CM Yogi has also directed the officials that to reach the July target, more than 100,000 healthcare professionals (as inoculators) would be required to vaccinate the entire adult population. The nursing students must be trained for the purpose.