Worry states UP, Chhattisgarh in focus; Covaxin provides to be doubled quickly

With the demand for vaccines rising, the Centre Friday introduced a plan to double by May-June the Covaxin manufacturing capability of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, together with a grant of Rs 65 crore for constructing a brand new manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.
On Friday, because the nation registered a document 2,17,353 new circumstances and 1,185 deaths, a number of states reported scarcity of oxygen provide because of the surge.
Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a assessment assembly on the present scenario of oxygen provide and projected use over the subsequent 15 days in 12 high-incidence states — Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

The Prime Minister was knowledgeable that 4,880 metric tonne (MT), 5,619 MT, and 6,593 MT have been allotted to those 12 states to satisfy their projected demand as on April 20, April 25 and April 30; and of the choice Thursday to import medical-grade oxygen.
The Prime Minister directed the authorities to make sure seamless and free motion of tankers carrying oxygen all through the nation.
After the assembly, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued particular instructions to Chief Secretaries of the states: be certain that no restrictions are imposed on the motion of medical oxygen between the states, that transport authorities be instructed to permit free inter-state motion of oxygen-carrying automobiles; no restrictions be imposed on oxygen producers and suppliers to restrict oxygen provides solely to hospitals of the state by which they’re situated; free motion of oxygen-carrying automobiles into cities, with none restriction of timing.
On ramping up the ICMR- Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine manufacturing capability, the Centre mentioned three public sectors corporations shall be supplied monetary help to extend capability.
First, Maharashtra state PSU Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd will obtain a Central grant of Rs 65 crore; the PSU has been requested to prepared its manufacturing facility inside 6 months and, as soon as practical, can have a capability of 20 million doses per 30 days.
“Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), Hyderabad, a facility under National Dairy Development Board, and Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Limited (BIBCOL), Bulandshahr, a CPSE under the Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India will also be supported to prepare their facility to provide 10-15 million doses per month by Aug-Sep 2021,” an official assertion mentioned.
“The current production capacity of indigenously developed Covaxin vaccine will be doubled by May-June 2021 and then increased nearly 6-7 fold by July-August 2021 i.e increasing the production from 1 crore vaccine doses in April, 2021 to 6-7 crore vaccine dose/month in July – August. It is expected to reach nearly 10 crore doses per month by Sep 2021,” the assertion mentioned.
Also Friday, Home Secretary Bhalla and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan chaired high-level conferences to assessment the standing in two states of concern — Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.
During the assembly, scarcity of hospital infrastructure being reported in each states, together with ICU and oxygen-supported hospitals beds, leading to problem to the general public in simply accessing crucial healthcare companies, had been mentioned intimately.
The assembly was knowledgeable that Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are the one three states which have a couple of lakh energetic circumstances.

“Both Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh are reporting a very high number of daily new Covid-19 cases and high deaths caused by Covid-19. Chhattisgarh has reported a nearly 6.2% increase in weekly new Covid cases based on a 7-day moving average. In the last two weeks, the state has seen almost 131% increase in weekly new cases. 22 districts in Chhattisgarh have crossed their reported highest cases in the last 30 days; Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon and Bilaspur are the most affected districts. In contrast to the week 17th-23rd March 2021, in the week of 7th-13th April 2021, RT-PCR tests have decreased to 28% (from 34%) while the Antigen Tests have increased to 62% (from 53%),” a press release from the Ministry of Home Affairs mentioned.
About UP, the assertion mentioned “Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Prayagraj are the most affected districts. In contrast to the week 17th-23rd March 2021, in the week of 7th-13th April 2021, RT-PCR tests have decreased to 46% (from 48%) while Antigen tests have increased to 53% (from 51%).”
Bhushan knowledgeable the 2 states that the demand for oxygen cylinders, together with 10-litre cylinders and 45-litre jumbo cylinders, and extra ventilators with high-flow nasal cannula for extreme circumstances, “will be met very soon”. The two states had been additionally directed to urgently make use of hospitals of Union Ministries and PSUs for treating Covid-19 sufferers.