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Bring more groups under ambit of vaccination drive in Chandigarh, say experts
Currently, as per the central government directives, people aged above 60 are eligible for inoculation, while those in the age group of 45 to 59 are eligible for the shot only if they have certain comorbidities specified by the Centre
With the city witnessing a resurgence in Covid-19 infections, voices for making the vaccine shots accessible for more groups have gone louder.
Currently, as per the central government directives, people aged above 60 are eligible for inoculation, while those in the age group of 45 to 59 are eligible for the shot only if they have certain comorbidities specified by the Centre.
This is hampering large-scale vaccination drive in the city even when it has reserved more than 80,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses with the daily capacity touching a minimum of 6,000 inoculations at around 45 centres in the city. Currently, the capacity utilisation is less than 3,000 in a single day.
The rules are so stringent that the dose of vaccine is allowed to be wasted even if no beneficiary from the priority group is available. Due to this process, around 2% of the total 60,228 doses administered to date have been wasted. A vial of Covishield vaccine contains 10 doses which are subjected to be administered within four hours after the vial is opened. The central government protocol suggests that 10% wastage of the doses administered is allowed.
Even the comorbid group has to get a certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner specifying that the person has a specific disease, which makes the entire process cumbersome.
“At this stage, the government should urgently do away with the mandatory certificate required for inoculation and make vaccine shots available for all persons aged above 45 or 50,” Dr Yogesh Chawla, former director, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, said.
Echoing the same sentiments, Dr KK Talwar, health adviser to the Punjab government and former director of PGIMER, said that Punjab has already appealed for bringing more groups under the ambit of vaccination.
“There is a hesitancy among people and the process should be made as simple as it can be. The central government should give the authority to the state governments on how to go about it,” he added.
Even the civil society groups are batting for relaxing the ‘restrictions’ on the vaccination.
“I have already communicated to the administration to bring more groups under the ambit of the vaccination drive as the city has enough capacity to inoculate a large number of people in a single go,” RK Garg, president of Second Innings Association, said.
Chairperson of Federation of Sectors Welfare Association, Chandigarh, Baljinder Singh Bittu, said as Covid cases are on a rise, it becomes necessary to decentralise the process and bring in more institutes to offer the shots without much focus on the eligibility.
To make vaccines more accessible to the citizens, representatives have also suggested making provisions for administering vaccines at homes as well.
“Many in the 60-plus age group want to get a jab, but they could not visit the facilities due to old age. The administration can actually provide the services for those persons by levying a nominal fee. This is something doable in the city like Chandigarh and we can lead by example,” Maheshinder Singh Sidhu, senior deputy mayor, Chandigarh, said.
Dr Amandeep Kang, director of health services, Chandigarh, said they have enough capacity to start the drive for more groups and once the government gives a green signal, they will start it immediately.
