India will produce 45,00,00,000 vaccines per month, Health Minister assures as Omicron fear looms

 India’s Omicron tally continues to rise, with at least 10 fresh cases being detected in the last 24 hours. As per an update shared by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in the Rajya Sabha on Monday afternoon, the country has 161 cases belonging to the new COVID-19 variant. At the same time, India has shown a steady decline in the daily caseload over the last few weeks. As of Monday morning, the active case tally stands at 82,267 – the lowest in 572 days.

With the Omicron variant spreading across the world, experts project that India will face a third wave of COVID-19, peaking in February. “We’re monitoring the situation daily with experts. With our experience during the first and second waves, to ensure that we don’t face problems when variant spreads, we’ve arranged a buffer stock of important medicines,” the Health Minister assured in the Upper House of Parliament.

The country is aiming to inoculate all adults with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this year. Thus far, three vaccines (Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V) have been used to administer more than 138 crore jabs. Of these, more than 55.24 crore people have been fully vaccinated.

“Today all states and union territories have adequate quantity of vaccines. 17 crore doses are available with them. Our manufacturing capacity has increased. Today India has the capacity to manufacture 31 crore doses of vaccine per month,” informed the Health Minister. He also said that this number would rise to 45 crore doses of vaccine per month in the next two months. 

“Under PM Modi’s leadership, with the efforts of our healthcare workers, 88% of first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered; 58% of second doses administered so far. The majority of the population in India is vaccinated today,” he added.