Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that vaccination is the only way to get rid of the COVID and insisted that the Central government should come out with alternatives to increase the vaccine production in order to meet the growing demand.
Speaking on the occasion of releasing the first tranche of financial assistance to farmers under the YSR Rythu Bharosa scheme on Thursday, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said if 26 crore people aged over 45 in the country are to be vaccinated, 52 crore doses would be required.
Similarly, 60 crore people aged between 18 and 45 need 120 crore doses. Thus, a total of 172 crore doses were needed but so far only about 18 crore doses have been administered, which is less than 10% of the actual requirement.
The CM said Andhra Pradesh alone requires over seven crore doses to cover all those aged above 18 whereas the Centre has given only 73 lakh doses till date.
With regard to vaccine production, he said that only two companies are manufacturing vaccines across the country with just seven crore doses per month. While Bharat Biotech is producing one lakh doses, Serum Institute of India is making six lakh doses per month.
The Chief Minister urged the public to wear masks, maintain social distance and wash hands frequently to prevent infection by the Coronavirus, which is going to stay for a long time.
