India may not have enough vaccines, even if we halt export: Expert

The second wave of Covid-19 pandemic seems to be more severe as the country is facing vaccine shortages in several states and cities.

Maharashtra, the nation's worst-hit state, has on Wednesday reported that it is running out of Vaccine stock, as the state recorded some 55,000 new infections last day. Other states, including Andhra Pradesh, is also running low on shots, according to the Economic Times.

Meanwhile, in a statement released on Wednesday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan diverted the blame for the blame on vaccine shortages to the states saying some states including Maharashtra, were "trying to divert attention from their poor vaccination efforts by just continuously shifting the goal-posts.

For now, one month of supplies from India's two approved vaccines only last 17 days at peak demand, without taking existing inventories into account, according to Abhishek Sharma, a Mumbai-based healthcare analyst at Jefferies, as reported by NDTV.

"As vaccination picks up pace across India, we expect to see demand outstripping supply over the next few months," Mr Sharma wrote in a report on Tuesday.

Maharashtra has only 1.4 million doses of the immunizations left, said Health minister Rajesh Tope ina in a report on Tuesday. Tope has asked the union government to arrange for at least 4 million doses a week to get meet the vaccine requirements in the state.

"Many of our vaccination centres are facing shortages and had to be shut due to unavailability of vaccines," he said. "Healthcare workers at many centres are forced to send back people saying the vaccine has not arrived yet."

"We are also observing people suddenly getting worse in home isolation, and we are suspecting certain virus mutations or strains may be causing this. There is a need to identify these different strains that are being detected in Maharashtra" Tope added.

In addition, medical groups, public health experts and business leaders have appealed to the government to fully open up the vaccination drive to all age groups as the second wave continues to build. The country currently only allows people over 45 years of age to get their doses.

"We are also observing people suddenly getting worse in home isolation, and we are suspecting certain virus mutations or strains may be causing this," Mr Tope said. "There is a need to identify these different strains that are being detected in Maharashtra" and get fresh treatment protocols to the states.