Covishield no more reserved for second dose only; vaccines to be administered as per availability

PUNE After deciding to use the available Covishield vaccine doses as for the second dose, and use Covaxin as for all first doses for beneficiaries under phase two, the administration has now decided to start using whichever vaccine is available

PUNE After deciding to use the available Covishield vaccine doses as for the second dose, and use Covaxin as for all first doses for beneficiaries under phase two, the administration has now decided to start using whichever vaccine is available.

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Both vaccines will now be used for vaccination, for both first and second doses, as per availability and also to ensure that no vaccine is wasted or nears its expiry date.

The PMC has been assured that enough doses will be available for a week, however beneficiaries will not be able to choose between the two approved vaccines.

On Saturday the district saw 28,850 beneficiaries get the vaccine of which 6,115 were Covaxin and 22,735 were Covishield.

These beneficiaries also included senior citizens and those aged between 45-59 with comorbidities, who got 5,040 doses of Covaxin and 11,679 doses of Covishield.

Dr Vaishali Jadhav, assistant health officer, PMC, said “We have started using both the vaccines for first dose as per availability. However, the beneficiaries would not be able to make the choice of the vaccine. As per availability they will get the vaccine dose. Once the vaccination is done, the details of the vaccine given and the date for the second dose will be entered. The state has assured a continuous flow of vaccines from hereon and we have enough stock for the next one week as of now.”