Vaccination for 18-plus begins today

PATNA After a wait of eight days, the Bihar government will start vaccination drive for persons in the age group of 18 to 44 years from Sunday (May 9), according to a tweet by the state health department

PATNA

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After a wait of eight days, the Bihar government will start vaccination drive for persons in the age group of 18 to 44 years from Sunday (May 9), according to a tweet by the state health department.

“Vaccination for the age group of 18-44 years will start from 9th May 2021 at your nearest health facility (up to Primary Health Centre). Prior registration and slot booking is must for getting vaccinated. Register yourself and book your slots for Covid-19 vaccination,” the tweet said.

It further said the state government had received 3.5 lakh doses of #COVID19 vaccine for the persons in the age group of 18-44 years.

The state on Monday has placed orders for supply of first batch of 11.80 lakh doses of Covishield and 4.12 lakh doses of Covaxin before it begins inoculating 5.50 crore target population of 18-44 years against the coronavirus.

Bihar is purchasing the vaccines directly from the firms, Serum Institute of India, the manufacturers of Covishield, and the Bharat Biotech, manufacturers of Covaxin. The state’s purchase would be in addition to the Centre’s allotment in due course of time, said an official of the health department.

The Centre has fixed a purchase rate of ₹315 per dose for Covishield and ₹420 per dose for Covaxin for states and union territories.

Bihar has been going slow on vaccination because of lack of availability of sufficient vaccines. On Friday, only 673,96 people in Bihar (all categories) were given vaccination.