Shortage of Covishield doses: PMC tells centres to only vaccinate with Covaxin

PUNE The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has found itself in a confusing scenario, as it has 50,000 doses of Covaxin, instead of the one lakh doses of Covishield, it was expecting delivery of

PUNE The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has found itself in a confusing scenario, as it has 50,000 doses of Covaxin, instead of the one lakh doses of Covishield, it was expecting delivery of.

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At least 1.70 lakh beneficiaries have already received Covishield in Pune city, including frontline and health care workers, who have to now, mandatorily take Covishield as their second dose.

The administration does not have enough doses of Covishield to ensure those who got their first dose get their second dose of the same vaccine.

A message sent by the the PMC health office to hospitals reads: “Henceforth we will be able to get only Covaxin and not Covishield. Covishield will be supplied by the government of India for the 2nd dose in the next few days. We request everyone to pay the GOI fees and take Covaxin, and start vaccination of new beneficiaries. Caution needs to be exercised as those who have balance Covishield stock should use it only for the second dose. Give Covaxin for the first dose. A site registered on the software previously for Covishield, will print certificates only for Covishield. So you have to first exhaust the Covishield stock, then cancel the Covishield site, register a new site for Covaxin, and only then start giving Covaxin. Only one site can be created either for Covaxin or Covishield. Beneficiaries coming for the second dose will be directed to select centres giving Covishield, which will be preferably government centres to avoid confusion.”

It is highly recommended by the ministry of health that under no circumstances should any individual get two different doses of two different vaccines.

Dr Ashish Bharati, PMC health chief said, “It is true that we have got only 50,000 Covaxin doses as opposed to the one lakh Covishield doses, which we were expecting. We do not have any Covishield stock as of now and so we have requested hospitals to keep all pending doses with to be used only for the second dose. We were completely unaware of the situation and as of now, we know that we have only Covaxin doses.”

“For Monday, we have asked hospitals to use the Covishield for a second dose and they have to freshly register for Covaxin now. The hospitals will have to create a second site for Covaxin and then restart the process. As of Sunday evening, seven private hospitals have taken the Covaxin doses from us. We have vaccinated about 1.50 lakh beneficiaries who have to be given Covishield. We do not have any Covishield stock with us right now and this may lead to some confusion,” Dr Bharati added.

As of now only Aundh district hospital has been administering Covaxin. Covaxin is an indigenously developed Covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with NIV and Bharat Biotech, while Covishield has been developed by Oxford university and is being mass produced by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII).

Dr H K Sale, executive director of Noble hospital, a Covid-19 vaccination centre, said, “This will definitely lead to confusion and chaos at vaccination centres. As of now we do not have any Covaxin doses with us. We need to re-apply for Covaxin even though we are yet to get 700 doses of Covisheild from the government for which we have already made the payment. However, we have to now create a new site for Covaxin and from Monday we would be able to vaccinate only a few healthcare workers. We will not be able to give Covishield as we have to keep it reserved for those who have already got the first dose of the vaccine.”