The Center has provided 218,051,890 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to states and Union Territories (UT), the Union Ministry of Health and Family said on Monday. Of those, 18,043,015 million doses of the vaccine are still available with states and UTs to administer, the Department of Health said.

More than 4.80 million doses of the vaccine are still being prepared and will be distributed to states within the next three days, the health ministry said. “Vaccination is an integral pillar of the Indian government’s comprehensive strategy to contain and manage the pandemic, with Test, Track, Treat and COVID Appropriate Behavior,” the health ministry said in a statement on Monday. In addition, the government is also facilitating the direct purchase of vaccines by states and UTs, he also said.

As of May 23, the total consumption, including wastage, is 200,008,875 doses, the health minister also mentioned.

It comes as several states across the country, including the nation’s capital, have halted the vaccination campaign for people between the ages of 18 and 44. The Center opened the coronavirus disease vaccination campaign for all over 18s on May 1. However, it has yet to pick up the pace in the country due to the vaccine shortage causing slots to be unavailable.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday urged the Center to increase the Covid-19 vaccine quota for the national capital amid a huge shooting crisis. Kejriwal also cited the temporary cessation of vaccination of people aged 18 to 44 to signal the shortage of doses in Delhi. Stocks of vaccines for the age group have run out and the centers where they were administered have been closed, Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal added that Delhi needs 80 lakh vaccine doses per month; “However, we only received 16 doses of lakh vaccine for the month of May,” he said.