New Delhi: Immunization of people aged 18 years and above across the country is scheduled to begin from May 1. Meanwhile, 4 States in the country say that they do not have stock of vaccines. In such a situation, they cannot start vaccination from 1st May. Congress-ruled Rajasthan says it will not be supplied by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the company that manufactures the Covishield vaccine, before May 15.

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma has said, "We were asked to talk to SII. He says that we will need time till May 15 to supply the orders received from the Central Government. So, till then, they are not in a position to give us the vaccine. Raghu Sharma said that the question is, if the state governments want to procure the vaccine directly, then what will be the procedure? The Central Government should take a decision in this regard. The question before us is that 3.13 crore people in Rajasthan are in the age group of 18 to 45 years. But how can we immunize these people? He said the Union Government should SII and Bharat Biotech should order that it can supply the vaccine to the States. At the same time, on the rate, he said that we are ready to pay the price, but there should be the same rate for all.

Apart from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Jharkhand also say that they are facing a shortage of vaccine stock. Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab are ruled by the Congress, while in Jharkhand, the Congress is in power with the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JMM). Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singh Dev and Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu have also supported Raghu Sharma's words.

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