Vaccine hitch as Bihar embarks on massive vaccination drive

Bihar aims to vaccinate 4

Bihar aims to vaccinate 4.54 lakh people a day for the next six months beginning Thursday, as it embarks on a mega vaccination drive to inoculate six crore people by December, a target chief minister Nitish Kumar has set for his officials to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

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The state’s vaccination goal, however, seems to be an uphill one, given the shortage of vaccines and their erratic supply. The number of vaccinations in a day has ebbed after peaking to 6.39 lakh doses on June 21.

The state has been administering less than 50,000 doses to beneficiaries since June 27 due to the poor availability of vaccines. At least nine of the 38 districts in Bihar drew a blank on Wednesday as their vaccination centres were closed due to the non-availability of vaccines. Some districts reported double-digit vaccinations. It had administered 30,462 doses till 8pm on Wednesday. This was the lowest single-day inoculations done in June.

The Centre, said state health officials, has committed to supply 91.81 lakh doses of the vaccine to the state in July. Of this, 68.86 lakh doses are to be administered free of cost through the government channel. The remaining 22.95 lakh doses will be routed through the private channel, where one has to pay for each dose of the vaccine.

As per the schedule of vaccine supply, the Centre has committed to supply 24.77 lakh doses to the state health department between July 1 and 15. Given the state’s ambitious target to inoculate 4.54 lakh people in a day, the stock would not last even six days.

The state had in its inventory around 10 lakh doses of the two vaccines — Covaxin 83,060 doses and the remaining 9,28,430 doses of Covishield. These would last only two days if the state were to vaccinate as per its target.

The next tranche of 9,59,220 doses of Covishield is scheduled to arrive on July 8, followed by 1,50,000 doses of Covaxin on July 12; and 4,82,910 doses of Covishield and 1,09,540 doses of Covaxin on July 15, said officials in the know of the vaccine supply schedule.

Executive director State Health Society, Bihar, Manoj Kumar, also the state’s nodal officer for vaccination, could not be contacted as he did not respond to phone calls or text messages.

STATE’S VACCINATION PLAN

On its part, the state government has drawn out an ambitious plan, involving different departments, to achieve its vaccination goal.

It has drawn up a panchayat wise micro plan, leveraging the support of “Jeevika didis” (women self-help groups) and representatives of panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies; and organising “Teeka Shala” or vaccination camps on school premises for parents of students studying there. Besides, 718 “Teeka Express” or mobile vaccination vans have been pressed into service in rural areas and 121 in urban areas to vaccinate the populace at their doorstep.

It also hopes to rope in famous personalities, sports icons, etc. and encourage schoolchildren to motivate their parents to take the jab.

As per the day-wise plan, 3 lakh people are proposed to be inoculated at the 3,000 vaccination centres across the state, at an average daily 100 jabs at each session site, said additional chief secretary, health, Pratyaya Amrit.

“We also expect to have 83,900 inoculations through the 839 “Teeka Express” at an average daily vaccination of 100 people per van,” he said.

“Jeevika Didis” are expected to inoculate 53,400 people a day through the 534 session sites they have been tasked to manage. “Teeka Shala”, one in every 534 blocks of the state, has been given a similar target, added Amrit.

Besides, every district will have at least one vaccination centre which will be functional from 9am to 9pm. Patna already has two vaccination centres — the Patliputra Sports Complex, Kankerbagh, and the Hotel Patliputra Ashok at Beerchand Patel Marg — which will be operational round the clock.

It also plans to tap and persuade flood victims, coming for gratuitous relief at special camps, to take the jab.

Besides, the government has already requested the state election commission (SEC) to ask candidates contesting the panchayat polls to declare their vaccination status in their nomination papers.

Panchayati raj minister Samrat Choudhary said he had suggested that all candidates, contesting the panchayat polls, should get themselves vaccinated so that the rural population also get inoculated and the safety parameters during the campaign of the three-tier local body are maintained.

It has also planned that shops should mandatorily display vaccination status through a display of stickers, to be facilitated by the government.

The health department also proposes to vaccinate all teachers and family members of all government employees in a “mission mode”.

If Bihar gets sufficient vaccine in time, as planned, it may end up vaccinating 4.91 lakh beneficiaries a day.

Bihar has so far administered 1,58,95,170 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine among its 7.22 crore target population above 18 years of age. Of these, 1,36,80,145 were given the first dose and the remaining 22,15,025 had taken both the doses of the vaccine

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