The health ministry on Thursday flagged the poor coverage of second dose among the priority groups in states, with only 56 per cent of the health care workers and 47 per cent of the frontline workers having received full vaccination so far.
At a meeting to review the progress of vaccination, the government also raised the issue of less-than-adequate private sector participation in some states that have limited and unequal spread of private hospitals such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam.
The national coverage for the first dose among health care workers is over 82 per cent, with 18 states including Punjab, Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Assam lagging.
While 85 per cent of frontline workers have received the first dose nationally, 19 states are reporting lower numbers including Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Telangana, Karnataka, and Punjab.
 "Covid-19 pandemic: Health ministry flags poor coverage of second dose")
