For the fourth time in three weeks, Ludhiana has run out of its vaccine stock. While only a few inoculations were carried out on Thursday, the health department has announced that the drive stands suspended on Friday.
Earlier, the district had run out of the stock on April 27, May 1 and May 4.
In view of the shortage, the health department had stopped the supply of vaccines to private hospitals on May 3.
So far, as many as 6,15,001 people have received the jabs in the district. On May 11, as many as 10,348 inoculations were carried out while on May 10, as many as 9,656 residents received the jabs.
Due to the shortage, the health department has also temporarily suspended the online registration sites for vaccination. District immunisation officer Dr Puneet Juneja said, “We had been getting repeated complaints from residents that on reaching the vaccination sites, they find out that the vaccine is not available. So, we have temporarily suspended the registration sites.”
Dr Juneja also confirmed that the drive has been suspended on Friday. “We are hoping to receive the fresh stock of vaccines by Saturday,” the immunisation officer said.
{{/usCountry}}Dr Juneja also confirmed that the drive has been suspended on Friday. “We are hoping to receive the fresh stock of vaccines by Saturday,” the immunisation officer said.
{{/usCountry}}Munish Dogra, a resident who had visited a vaccination site on Thursday said, “As the online registration process was not working, I visited a vaccination site hoping for walk-in registration but the staff there said they had suspended the drive for the day. They were also clueless about when the drive will resume.”
Saurabh Sharma, another resident, said, “At a time when people are dying, the health department has run out of vaccine. The government should have stocked up adequately so that people could be vaccinated at the earliest.”
The state secretary of Pradhan Mantri Jankalyankari Yojna Prachar Prasar Abhiyan, Vineet Pal Singh Monga wrote to deputy commissioner Varinder Sharma and demanded that the vaccination process must be streamlined. “People in the 45-plus age category are not able to get the second dose of the either Covishield or Covaxin even after the lapse of 28 to 45 days from the day of first dose. This is total mismanagement,” he wrote.