Prime Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said vaccinations were the only way to get rid of the COVID and insisted that the central government should come up with alternatives to increasing vaccine production to meet growing demand.
At the release of the first tranche of financial aid to farmers under the YSR Rythu Bharosa program on Thursday, Jagan Mohan Reddy said that if 26 crore people over 45 in the country were to be vaccinated, 52 crore doses would be required.
Similarly, 60 crore people between the ages of 18 and 45 will need 120 crore doses. Thus a total of 172 Crore doses were required, but so far only about 18 Crore doses have been administered, which corresponds to less than 10% of the actual requirement.
Andhra Pradesh alone needs over seven crore doses to cover anyone over the age of 18, according to CM, while the center has only given 73 lakh doses to date.
Regarding vaccine production, he said that only two companies nationwide make vaccines using just seven crore doses per month. While Bharat Biotech produces one lakh dose, the Serum Institute of India produces six lakh cans per month.
The prime minister urged the public to wear masks, maintain social distance and wash their hands frequently to prevent infection with the coronavirus, which will continue for a long time.