For vaccination, all roads lead to Patna

Beneficiaries from adjoining districts are adding to the rush at Covid-19 vaccination centres in Patna, pointing to vaccine shortage in some districts other than the state capital

Beneficiaries from adjoining districts are adding to the rush at Covid-19 vaccination centres in Patna, pointing to vaccine shortage in some districts other than the state capital.

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Beneficiaries from Vaishali, Bhojpur and Jehanabad and in some cases even from Munger, nearly 180 kms to the east of Patna, have come to take the jabs in Patna, said an official.

“We have received inputs on people from neighbouring districts coming to take the jab at our vaccination centres. We are not denying vaccination to any Indian, irrespective of the place of domicile,” said Chandrashekhar Singh, Patna’s district magistrate.

Mansoon Mohanty, district resource unit team lead for Patna of Care India, partners in the implementation of the government’s health programme, overseeing operations at the three 24x7 vaccination centres in Patna, said: “We got a family which drove all the way from Munger to take the shot at our vaccination centre at Patliputra Ashok hotel.”

“People from adjoining districts are also coming to take the jabs, pointing to a growing awareness about vaccination among people,” he said.

Indians took the first shot of Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine abroad and were due for their second dose, have been given Covishield shots at our centres here, added Mohanty.

With 9,002 jabs, the three 24x7 vaccination centres managed by Care India in Patna, recorded the highest inoculations in a day on Wednesday. Of this, the Patliputra Sports Complex accounted for 3,821 doses, the hotel Patliputra Ashok 2,951 and Polytechnic College, Patliputa, 2,230.

The district magistrate said a good response towards vaccination had been created.

“The demand now is much more than supply. As such, we are unable to meet the increasing demand because of vaccine shortage, forcing us to shut down some vaccination sites occasionally,” added Singh.

“We achieved a milestone on June 25 by administering 80,508 doses — the highest inoculations in a day so far — catapulting Patna to the third slot among districts in India that day after Pune (1.38 lakh doses), Mumbai (86,520 doses),” the DM added.

Patna was now administering an average daily 40,000 doses, said its district immunisation officer Dr SP Vinayak. “The number of vaccinations depends on availability of vaccines. We had 97,000 doses left in our stock on Wednesday evening, which we hope to administer to beneficiaries soon,” he added.

Patna has contributed to 12% of the 1.94 crore doses of vaccine administered in the state till Wednesday.

The state capital aims to complete first dose vaccination of its urban adults by July 25.

Rural Patna, with first-dose vaccination achievement of 24%, has been slow to keep pace with urban areas. Rural Patna has a target population of 29.12 lakh against 14.36 lakh in urban Patna.

“We are deploying one vaccination van in each of the 75 municipal wards for the next 10 days in Patna to complete the first dose vaccination of the eligible population available here,” said Singh.

“The government’s focus is to first target the low-hanging fruits, before moving up. We will shift our focus to the rural population, who are fast shedding their reluctance towards vaccination once the willing urban population has been administered the first dose,” said a health official.

This also explains the fact why people from rural areas of adjoining districts are crowding in Patna for vaccination.

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