Coronavirus vaccine: More than 224 million COVID-19 vaccine doses provided to states, UTs so far

New Delhi, May 28: The Union health ministry on Friday said that more than 224.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been provided to states and Union Territories (UTs) so far free of cost and through direct state procurement. The health ministry also said that 18,492,677 doses are still available with states and UTs to inoculate their citizens.

"As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, Government of India (GoI) has been supporting states and UTs by providing them vaccines free of cost. In addition, It has also been facilitating direct procurement of vaccines by states and UTs," the health ministry said.

So far, India has inoculated 205,720,660 people against COVID-19 of which 27,25,111 received the first dose and 1,94,588 were inoculated with both the doses. On Wednesday, India crossed 200 million vaccinations in 130 days, the second country after the United States to achieve this figure, the ministry said.

The health ministry's statement comes at a time when a majority of states have flagged a severe shortage of vaccine doses because of which inoculation for those between the ages of 18-44 years is currently no hold. States have also floated tenders to procure vaccines from international vaccine manufacturers on their own, but haven't seen any success.