Amid the COVID-19 vaccine shortage being reported from various parts of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised the states to prevent vaccine wastage.
"There is an issue of vaccine wastage. Wasting even a single dose means not being able to give a shield to a life. It is important to stop vaccine wastage. Health Ministry is providing information to the states regarding vaccines for 15 days. Vaccine supply will help you in managing vaccination timelines," he said.
Interacting with the district magistrates (DMs) and field officials of 10 States regarding the COVID-19 situation on the ground, PM Modi informed that Health Ministry is providing information to the states regarding vaccines for 15 days which will help the officials to manage the vaccination timeline.
Earlier this month, PM Modi had praised the Kerala government's efforts in reducing vaccine wastage and said that it is important in strengthening the fight against COVID-19.
Meanwhile, with 2,76,110 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,57,72,440 while the daily deaths were recorded below 4,000 after four days, taking the count to 2,87,122, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
A total of 3,874 fatalities due to COVID-19 were registered in a span of 24 hours.
The active cases have further reduced to 31,29,878, comprising 12.14 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 86.74 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,23,55,440, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.11 per cent, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4.
