The 'Tika Utsav' or vaccine festival begins today throughout the country from April 11 to 14 with an aim to inoculate the maximum number of eligible beneficiaries against COVID-19. However, ten states have cited a severe shortage of vaccines.
As announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a virtual conference with state Chief Ministers, all states are encouraged to reach out to citizens to get vaccinated and organise 'Tika Utsav' across the nation.
"Sometimes, it helps in changing the atmosphere. The birth anniversary of Jyotiba Phule is on April 11 and on April 14, there is the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb. Can we organise a 'Tika Utsav: or vaccine festival and create an atmosphere of 'Tika Utsav'?" Modi asked CMs.
While discussing the COVID-19 situation with all CM's, PM modi said in the virtual meeting that vaccinating as many eligible people as possible with zero vaccine wastage is the immediate requirement.
Resonating with the PM's call, various state governments like Bihar, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh have already made preparations for the 'Tika Utsav' which will last for four days. However, many states have demanded more vaccinations and some have shut down vaccination centres in view of the shortage of vaccines.
Vaccine shortage in 10 states
However, states like Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand are among the ten which complained that they are facing a shortage of vaccines, and shut down many vaccination centres.
Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said the state required 40 lakh doses every week from the Centre and the state alone alone accounts for 51.23 per cent of the total active cases in the country.
AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy wrote to the centre seeking 25 lakh additional doses of the vaccine. "We have drawn out an action plan to cover six lakh people including four lakh in rural and two lakh in urban areas per day totaling to 24 lakh people in four days of the Tika Utsav. Currently, my state has only two lakh doses and another two lakh doses are expected to be received today. There is an urgent need for another 25 lakh doses which if made available before April 11, the Tika Utsav can be grandly celebrated under your able leadership, " he wrote in a letter addressed to the PM.
From April 11, both public and private workplaces will organise vaccination sessions for their employees in an effort to ramp up the inoculation exercise. Employees aged 45 and above can get vaccinated.
Covid cases hit new high
On Saturday, the country added 1,45,384 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest single-day surge so far, as the country's tally surged to 1,32,05,0926.
Ever since the mass inoculation drive began earlier this year, over 10 crore people have been administered COVID-19 vaccine doses in the country making India the fastest nation to reach the milestone.
