Harish Rao writes to Centre asking for more Covid-19 vaccines for TS

Hyderabad: Telangana health minister T. Harish Rao wrote a letter to the Central health ministry on 8 August asking it to increase the supply of Covid-19 vaccines to the state.

The Central ministry of health and family welfare, on 6 August 2022, instructed the state government to gear up in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases and ramp us testing and vaccination. This came after the state reported over 1,000 daily cases in the first week of August.

Mr. Harish Rao, in his reply to the Central health ministry, said Telangana has only 2.7 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

The state administers 1.5 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines every day. Given this situation, the stocks are only for two days.

The minister, in his letter, said, "Based on the demand, there is a potential to administer three lakh doses every day. But the state cannot do so, as there is a shortage of Covishield vaccines. The supply to the state government is in small quantities only. Due to this reason, ramping up vaccination is a challenge."

The Central health department had asked for increasing surveillance in the form of testing, tracking and tracing. There is also a need to recognise clusters of Covid-19 infection if any, it had suggested.

The state government has not responded to that.

Senior doctors, on condition of anonymity, said, "The need to track and trace is important as there can be a mutation. The government must continuously do so. It must now be a process that they must strictly follow. The cases are mild for now but there are those with co-morbid conditions who are developing secondary diseases and that is leading to hospitalization."

With the festival season starting in September, there will be mass gatherings and it is important that precautions, like wearing of masks, are put in place again.