Vaccinations for 18+ may stop due to shortage of doses

Left with only 800 doses of Covid-19 vaccine for the 18-44 age group that will be administered on Thursday, the district health department said it is on the verge of stopping inoculation for the general population

Left with only 800 doses of Covid-19 vaccine for the 18-44 age group that will be administered on Thursday, the district health department said it is on the verge of stopping inoculation for the general population. Health officials said they are likely to suspend vaccinations for the 18-44 age group from Friday if the district does not get additional doses.

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“Vaccination for 18 plus could have stopped from Thursday onwards. But we managed to collect a few unused vials of Covishield from different health centres. After collating it, we distributed 100 doses each to eight centres. Vaccination for 18 plus might stop as the department has already run out of stock. Second dose inoculation for those above 45 will continue at 37 vaccination centres,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer.

On Wednesday, nearly 77% of the 4,500 Covaxin doses allocated for the 18-44 age group was used. According to the data, at least 3,456 people took their jabs at government vaccination centres. Only 590 people took their first dose in two private hospitals.

“At least 20% of vaccines are reserved as per the state government protocol. The district administration will suggest its usage. The state health department has also been apprised about the current situation as we have asked for doses to continue with vaccination drives,” said Dr MP Singh, district immunisation officer.

According to Singh, there are roughly about 15,000 doses for people above 45 years who are to take their second dose. More than 4,500 people took their second dose at 37 health centres on Wednesday. Long queues were seen at urban primary health centres catering to newer areas of Gurugram.

At some locations, only those who took their first shot in March were getting inoculated with the second dose. “Co-WIN portal is accepting details of people who took their first jab after March 30. It is confirming only those registrations which have completed six to eight weeks of their first dose. Until Tuesday, there was no such problem in the portal. Therefore, many people who took the shot in the first week of April were asked to leave,” said a medical officer, requesting anonymity.

Many people above 45 years who had walked in without registration to receive their first dose were also asked to leave due to vaccine shortage, which has been persisting over the last 12 days. Until now, 569,461 doses have been administered in the district.