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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-04-20 11:43:11

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Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

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An RTI enquiry has revealed that more than 44 lakh doses of Covid vaccines were wasted by states. This amounts to criminal negligence. At a time when the country is grappling with shortage of vaccines, optimum use must be the mantra. If we go by figures, 44 lakh out of 10 crore doses seems to be a small percentage (4.4%) and can be tolerated in normal circumstances. But the pandemic is not normal and all resources, most of all vaccine doses, need to used efficiently and to the full.

The enquiry reveals that Tamil Nadu was the highest waster at 12%, followed by Haryana (9.74%), Punjab (8.12%), Manipur (7.8%) and Telangana (7.55%). In contrast, there was almost zero wastage in Kerala, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Goa, Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

The very fact that some states managed zero wastage means that there was huge mismanagement in those states that wasted vaccine doses. For, if it was possible for some states not to waste the scarce resource, it was also possible for the others. The waster states either took things too lightly or did not put in place checks and balances to ensure zero or minimum wastage.

The states where doses were wasted need to find out where they are going wrong and put corrective measures in place. The vaccination drive is going to expand and accelerate in future. If they continue to waste at this level, apart from the cost angle they will fall behind in the programme. Hence, all states have to ensure that vaccine doses are not wasted and used to the full.