As India gears up to vaccinate its 18+ population against COVID-19 from Saturday, several states, including Delhi and Maharashtra, have expressed their inability to start vaccination citing a paucity of doses. Although addressing the situation, the Centre on Friday stressed that any new exercise takes time to pick up the pace and this phase of the inoculation drive too will stabilise over time.

Also read: People aged 18-44 can choose COVID jabs at private centres: CoWin chief

Here’s the list of states, which will not administer the vaccine jabs to those between 18 and 44 years on May 1:

Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested Delhiites not to “queue up at the centres” on Saturday. The AAP leader said this while adding that Delhi has not received the COVID vaccines yet.

Maharashtra: Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said the state will not commence the inoculation drive for people aged 18-44 due to lack of vaccine vials. 

Madhya Pradesh: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday that the vaccination drive will not start on May 1 in Madhya Pradesh as the manufacturers can not supply enough vaccine doses in time.

Odisha: The state will not start inoculating citizens aged 18-44 from May 1 as it is the first day of the weekend shutdown and due to lack of stock, PK Mohapatra, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, said on Friday.

Also read: Shortages, confusion ahead of the next phase of India’s vaccination drive

Karnataka: Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar has said that the state government has placed orders for one crore doses of vaccine, however, the manufacturers are yet to officially give confirmation.

Tamil Nadu: State Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan told reporters that he is unsure when and how much out of 1.5 crore doses of vaccine sought by the Tamil Nadu government will arrive on May 1.

Punjab: Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that the vaccination drive for those aged18-44 may get delayed due to the lack of vaccine vials. 

Also read: COVID vaccine registration: No slots available for many till July

West Bengal: The state government has written to the Centre, seeking supply of at least three crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines for state and private hospitals.

Jammu and Kashmir: The Jammu and Kashmir administration said that they expect to receive vaccines for this phase by May 20.

Uttarakhand, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa have also cited the inadequate amount of vaccine doses available to them.