The government of Telangana urged the centre to release 50 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine to the state which will help to increase the pace of the ongoing drive to administer booster dose. In a letter to Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, the State Health Minister, T Harish Rao said that currently, Telangana has less than 2.7 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine, which will not be sufficient to administer even for two days.

"Telangana has taken-up a massive drive to administer precautionary doses to all eligible people. Presently, Telangana is administering about 1.5 lakh doses of the Covid vaccine per day. However, based on the demand, there is a potential to administer over 3 lakh precautionary/booster doses per day which the State is not able to meet as there is a shortage of vaccine supplies, particularly for Covishield," Harish Rao in the letter said.

He also mentioned in the letter, "Telangana State has achieved 106 percent coverage of the first dose of Covid vaccination and 104 percent for the second dose for 18 years plus population, which is one of the highest in the country."

Currently, based on the regulatory recommendations, the same Covid-19 vaccine that was used for administration of first and second doses has to be administered as a booster or precautionary dose to those who are 18 years of age. Covishield made up the majority of the first and second Covid vaccination doses given in Telangana. As a result, Telangana has a significant need for Covishield during the ongoing administration of booster doses in the state.