Chandigarh to get 2.17 lakh vaccine doses in August

The central government on Monday allocated 2,17,200 vaccine doses for Chandigarh for the month of August, which the UT health department feels would be enough to vaccinate the city’s eligible population with at least the first dose by mid-August

The central government on Monday allocated 2,17,200 vaccine doses for Chandigarh for the month of August, which the UT health department feels would be enough to vaccinate the city’s eligible population with at least the first dose by mid-August.

The UT health department aims to vaccinate the entire eligible population, with at least the first dose, by August 15. (HT FILE)

Of the total, around 1,69,160 vaccine doses will be given to the government sector for free inoculation while private hospitals in the city can purchase up to 48,040 doses in the coming month.

According to the latest electoral list, around 7.1 lakh people are eligible to be jabbed in Chandigarh of which 83% have so far, received the first dose while 25% have been fully vaccinated. The UT health department aims to vaccinate the entire eligible population, with at least the first dose, by August 15.

For the remaining days of July, the UT health department is left with 57,250 doses in government vaccination centres. Besides, private hospitals are having a total of 36,740 doses with them, for paid inoculation. On an average, the city is vaccinating 9,000 to 10,000 beneficiaries every day, with the count crossing the 10,000-mark on some days.

If it goes with the same pace, the UT health department may fall short of doses in the last couple of days in July.

2.27 lakh doses administered in July

From July 1 to July 26, the UT health department administered 2,27,553 vaccine doses, including the first and second doses, to eligible beneficiaries. Initially, the central government had allocated only two lakh doses for Chandigarh for the month of July, of which 50,000 were meant to be used in private hospitals.

Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, director health services, Chandigarh, said, “The Centre regularly reviews the vaccination figures, and sends a fresh stock as soon as vaccine availability starts to go down. We have enough vaccine doses available in government and private hospitals and a fresh stock will be received soon. The vaccines will be enough to meet the vaccination target in the set deadline.”

Door-to-door vaccination picking up pace

Dr Kang further added that the UT health department has got two more mini-buses, which are going to be converted into vaccination buses to enter Chandigarh’s colonies.

“People often feel hesitant to enter ambulances for inoculation. To provide better facilities to public, we had converted two AC-buses into vaccination buses and now, two more mini-buses will be used for the same purpose. We are vaccinating around 1,000 people daily as part of the door-to-door vaccination drive,” she said.