E-Paper
Around 13 lakh people in Odisha missed their 2nd dose of Covid vaccines
For those taking Covishield, the maximum permissible gap between two doses is 112 days while it is 42 days for Covaxin.
Around 13 lakh people in Odisha have missed the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine despite completing the maximum time gap between two doses, government officials said on Friday.
State nodal officer for immunization Dr Bijay Panigrahi said of 16 lakh people whose second dose of the Covid vaccine is due, 12.95 lakh persons are already overdue for the second dose. For those taking Covishield, the maximum permissible gap between two doses is 112 days while it is 42 days for Covaxin.
“There are several factors behind the delay. While some people did not come after taking the first dose, others missed it due to vaccine shortage as we focussed mainly on giving the first dose. However, it would not be a problem as the efficacy of the vaccine would remain for 6 months as these vaccines are immunogenic,” said Dr Panigrahi.
Apart from the shortage of vaccines, many people stopped coming to vaccination centres after two/three attempts as they failed to get vaccines due to overcrowding. In several districts, old people queued up from early morning fearing that they would be left out. Yet many of them did not get it.
Ganjam leads the list of districts where most of the people are overdue for the second dose. In Ganjam, 1,44,739 beneficiaries have missed the second dose, including 1.13 lakh for Covishield and 34,448 for Covaxin.
Similarly, 65,781 people in Mayurbhanj, 61,462 in Koraput, 56,099 in Cuttack, 54,648 in Keonjhar, 49,914 in Balasore, 46,628 in Bhadrak, 43,595 in Sundargarh, 40,067 in Kalahandi, 39,530 in Bargarh, 39,042 in Nabarangpur, 38,200 in Jajpur, 37,037 in Puri, 34,204 in Rayagada, 32,816 in Sambalpur, 29,734 in Dhenkanal and 28,893 in Balangir have missed their second Covishield shots. In Bhubaneswar, 1,01,716 people have missed their second dose of Covaxin even as there was no issue with the stock.
In Odisha, Covaxin is being given to people living in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation area and some parts of the Ganjam district while Covishield is being given to people in the rest of the state.
The state has so far administered 2.10 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses, of which 1.6 crore people were given the first dose while more than 50 lakh were administered the second dose. In terms of percentage, more than 52 percent of the eligible population have been vaccinated with at least one dose. More than 89,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated with at least one dose so far.
On May 13, the Centre had approved a gap of 12 to 16 weeks for Covishield, which accounts for around 95 percent of all vaccinations in Odisha and four to six weeks for Covaxin.
State’s additional chief secretary, health, PK Mohapatra said Odisha is conducting vaccination of around 2 lakh people every day. Odisha was supplied 54.92 lakh doses of both vaccines in July against the promised allocation of 30.51 lakh doses of free supply. In August, the state was allocated 43.48 lakh doses of both vaccines. The Centre has promised additional 11.16 lakh doses of vaccines this month to cover the people due for the second dose.
