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Poor turnout in Pune district leads to vaccine wastage
Each vial has ten doses and vials need to be used up within four hours once opened.
PUNE The experts have cited concerns over wastage of vaccine vials due to poor turnout in the Pune district.
Each vial has ten doses and vials need to be used up within four hours once opened.
At Kasarwadi site in Pimpri, just one health care worker turned up on Wednesday leading to waste of nine doses.
Overall, Pune city reported 47 per cent turnout on the third day (Wednesday), forcing Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to halt inoculation drive on Thursday.
According to officials, 14 doses of Covaxin vaccines were wasted during three days of the vaccination drive in Pune City and 89 doses in total in the state.
Ayush Prasad, chief executive officer (CEO), Pune Zilla Parishad, said that though the turnout in Pune district is around 70 per cent, the authorities are taking measures to address the hesitancy among healthcare workers.
“We have seen some hesitancy among healthcare workers with comorbidities. They are unsure about whether to continue medication from conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and others. We are trying to address this by appointing ambassadors inside the hospital who will help clarify their doubts. We are also organising meetings with associations to spread awareness among various groups,” he said.
He also added that the doubts of high-risk groups among healthcare workers are addressed by the doctors to ensure that they have more clarity.
Dr Ashish Bharti, chief, health department, PMC, said that the department is making all efforts to ensure that the vaccines are not wasted.
“We have cleared the glitch in the Co-WIN application and the messages for inoculation were sent on Thursday so that the beneficiaries can visit the centres on Friday. We are hopeful that the turnout will be good on Friday. And once the number is achieved there will be no wastage of vaccine,” he said.
He added that the centres have slots which ensure that at least a few beneficiaries are there before a few vials are opened to reduce wastage.
