E-Paper
Punjab going slow on Covid vaccination
State nowhere near meeting its daily target of administering 2 lakh doses; health minister blames Centre for inadequate supply
The Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Punjab has failed to pick up pace as the state health department is nowhere near meeting its daily target of administering 2 lakh doses.
The state barely crossed even the 1-lakh mark a day and that too once, even as it has been nearly a week since chief minister Amarinder Singh set the 2-lakh target.
A senior health department official said the targets were given according to the population, but districts like Sangrur, Mansa, Moga and Muktsar failed to meet even half of the mark.
A government official, who is part of the state-level vaccination planning, said an inadequate supply of the vaccine was the main factor behind Punjab not meeting the set target. “Hesitancy among people in getting vaccinated is the most in rural areas, especially in the south-west Malwa region,” he added.
Dr Navjot Dahiya, president of the Punjab chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), said the supply of vaccine to private hospitals was adequate initially but it has been hampered for the past one week.
“The district authorities say there are supply- shortage issues. Initially, there was hesitancy among people in the rural pockets but it is not the case at least in the Doaba belt,” said Dr Dahiya.
State health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the department is fully equipped to vaccinate at least 3 lakh people a day but the supply of the vaccine is not sufficient. “As on Tuesday, we were left with a stock for a day only. We have been asking the central government to provide a single batch of at least 10 lakh doses so that we can start our vaccination drive with full strength. But we get only 3-4 lakh doses in a batch as it was the case earlier,” said the minister.
“We have to keep doses for the second shot as well so the department has to maintain an adequate stock balance. On the other hand, neighbouring Haryana is getting more vaccine supply than us,” he claimed.
Even as only frontline and health workers below 45 can be administered the dose as per the health department guidelines, HT came across instances in Mohali district where several private sector employees aged below 45 were vaccinated at special camps.
Vaccine stats
People given first dose: 22, 80,439
People given second dose: 2, 27,634
Total doses administered: 25, 08,073
(*Data from Union health ministry website as on April 20 morning)
