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Poor response from 12-15 age group: Chandigarh reduces vaccination sites to six amid dose wastage
Each vial of Corbevax, the vaccine approved by the central government for the children of this age group, vaccine contains 10 or 20 doses and has to be utilised within four hours of opening
Taking note of the poor response to the vaccination drive for children aged 12 to 15, the UT health department on Thursday reduced the number of vaccination centres from 35 to six to avoid wastage of doses.
Now, children can get the vaccine only at PGIMER, GMCH-32, GMSH-16 and the three civil hospitals in Sector 22, Sector 45 and Manimajra.
A vial of Corbevax, the vaccine approved by the central government for the children of this age group, has to be utilised within four hours of opening, else the doses are rendered useless. The vials are available in two sizes of 10 and 20 doses, and their availability at more centres risked higher wastage.
As per the population projected by the central government, about 45,000 children in this age group are eligible for vaccination in Chandigarh.
For them, the health department had made the vaccine available at 35 hospitals, and health and wellness centres. But despite the wide availability, only 37 children turned up for getting the jab on the first day and another 91 on Thursday, resulting in vaccine wastage.
A senior official from the health department, who did not wish to be named, said, “The response is quite sluggish. At one centre, only three children visited on Wednesday, while a vial of 20 doses had to be opened to vaccinate them. This resulted in wastage of 17 doses.”
“To avoid wastage, we have reduced the number of vaccination sites to six. This will ensure that more children gather at one spot and the opened vials are utilised swiftly,” said Dr Suman Singh, director, health services, Chandigarh.
“The drive is moving slowly due to ongoing annual exams in schools. Also, many children got infected with the virus during the third wave of the pandemic in January, making them ineligible for vaccination. We will soon start vaccination camps at government and private schools to inoculate more children,” Dr Singh added.
30 doses wasted in Mohali in two days
Mohali and Panchkula also saw no improvement in the children’s footfall at their vaccination centres.
After just four children on Wednesday, just six more got the first dose in Mohali’s nine centres on Thursday, due to which at least 30 doses were wasted.
“One vial provides 20 doses. We opened only two vials over the two days, yet 30 doses were wasted,” said Dr Girish Dogra, nodal officer of Covid-19 in Mohali. Over 43,000 children of this age group are eligible for vaccination in Mohali district.
In Panchkula, compared to 60 children a day ago, only 36 children came forward on Thursday. Immunisation officer Dr Meenu Sasan said at one centre, only three children showed up, leading to wastage of 17 doses.
