Govt has adequate supplies of COVID-19 vaccine for vaccination program: VK Paul

On the reports of insufficiency of COVID-19 vaccine supply, NITI Aayog Member (Health) VK Paul on Wednesday said the government has adequate supplies of vaccine for the COVID-19 vaccination program in the country.

Speaking at a press conference, Paul said, "We have adequate supplies of vaccine for the COVID19 vaccination program that has been brought forth. There is no inadequacy of vaccine supply."

Meanwhile, on Tuesday the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 5 crore marks on March 23.

As per the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday India has reported 47,262 new COVID-19 cases, 23,907 recoveries, and 275 deaths in the last 24 hours.

However, amid the rise of COVID-19 cases, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan asserted that the spike in coronavirus cases of Maharashtra and Punjab is of grave concern.

Bhushan said, "Two states are of grave concern, that has shown a recent surge in cases - Maharashtra, that reported more than 28,000 cases in the last 24 hours and Punjab, that is reporting a huge number of cases in proportion to its population."

However, besides them, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are of concern too. Gujarat reporting around 1700 cases daily and Madhya Pradesh around 1500 cases.

"Most cases in Gujarat concentrated in Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Bhavnagar. In Madhya Pradesh, it's concentrated in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Ujjain, and Betul," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )