RANCHI: Terming the vaccine wastage figure of Jharkhand by the Centre at 33.95 per cent as “old data”, the Hemant Soren government Thursday said it has received permission from the central ministry to rectify the related data and the vaccine wastage was 1.5 per cent in the state.
The efforts made by the state government including increasing the pace of inoculation has resulted in wastage of vaccine to 1.5 per cent from earlier 4.5 per cent, it said.
As per the centre’s data Kerala and West Bengal recorded negative wastage of Covid-19 vaccines in May, saving 1.10 lakh and 1.61 lakh doses respectively, while Jharkhand reported maximum wastage of 33.95 per cent.
“We have already raised the issue with the centre during several rounds of video-conferencing.
The 33.95 per cent wastage data is old one.
The Union ministry has given us permission to rectify the data on the portal.
“The permission has been received by us only today and accordingly, we will rectify it as the wastage has come to 1.5 per cent,” Jharkhand nodal officer for vaccination A Dodde told PTI.
Dodde said the process for correction was on.
As per the vaccine data from National Health Mission Jharkhand, in a short span of two weeks between May 26 and June 8 almost 6 lakh new vaccine doses were administered across the state.
The vaccine coverage in Jharkhand was 40.12 lakh doses on May 26 which increased to 46.07 lakh doses on June 8 morning, as per the state government.
“Till 26th May, net vaccine availability at the state government was 42,07,128 doses, out of this 40,12,142 doses were administered whereas on June 8th, net vaccine availability was 46,76,990, out of this 46,07,189 doses were administered to the people.
“This resulted in bringing wastage down to 1.5% per cent from earlier 4.5% per cent,” Jharkhand govenrment had said on Wednesday.
Earlier, at loggerheads with the centre over vaccine wastage data, the Jharkhand government had on May 28 said the union ministry has agreed to rectify the state wastage data after it pointed out that CoWIN portal till May 27 erroneously showed state’s wastage figure at “38.45” per cent, much higher than the actual.
The assurance was given during a video conference between the Union health ministry officials with the health ministry officials of the four states including Jharkhand.
The Jharkhand government had on May 27 night shot off a letter to set the record right close on the heels of chief minister Hemant Soren trashing the centre’s vaccine wastage data for his state.
The Jharkhand government, as per the figures then had said that if wastage figures are rectified on the basis of data attached with the letter, the wastage figure will come below 4.63 per cent.
Union health ministry in a statement on May 25 had said despite urging states repeatedly to keep vaccine wastage below 1 percent, many states such as Jharkhand (37.3 pc) were reporting much higher wastage than the national average (6.3 pc).
In return, Jharkhand had contested, saying it is wrong to project vaccine wastage proportion is as high as 37.3 per cent in the state whereas the fact remained that it is much below the national average and currently stands at 4.63 per cent.
Chief minister Soren had lashed out at the centre, saying how can one imagine that Jharkhand will allow its “suraksha kavach” (protective gear) to go waste? CoWIN portal developed by the central government for the vaccination programme displayed the vaccine wastage data for Jharkhand at 38.45 per cent till May 27.
“Jharkhand’s total wastage of doses is projected as 38.45 per cent on CoWIN portal till May 27 …
A list of session sites with actual data attached with the letter so that after rectification of the CoWIN portal correct status could be projected,” project director, National Health Mission wrote to the Health and Family Welfare Ministry on May 27 night.
A review at state level assessed that human errors and typo by certain vaccinators in the course of data entry on CoWIN portal combined with certain glitches during wastage calculation on CoWIN software resulted in portrayal of higher wastage than actual, the letter mentioned, the state government had said.
The Union government created CoWIN portal and said all immunisations will be part of the National Vaccination Programme and it will be captured on CoWIN platform along with stocks and price per vaccination applicable in all inoculation centres.
The platform sees immunisation management and reporting.