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First dose for 45-plus resumes in Pune; no vax drive on Friday
No vaccination will be done at government hospitals on May 21 due to shortage of vaccine stock, said PMC officials
Pune: The first dose vaccination for beneficiaries above the age of 45 years restarted within the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits from Thursday. However, beneficiaries trying to book a slot faced many issues.
Meanwhile, no vaccination will be done at government hospitals on May 21 due to shortage of vaccine stock, said PMC officials.
Rubal Agarwal, additional municipal Commissioner, PMC said that vaccination will not continue on May 21 in government hospitals.
“Due to vaccine shortage we are unable to continue the drive on May 21. However, when the doses are available, the process will restart with priority to second dose and first dose beneficiaries,” said Agarwal.
She said the vaccination drive will continue on the same lines as carried out on Thursday.
“We will give priority to first dose beneficiaries who are HCW, FLW and are above the age of 45 years. Also, second doses for Covishield beneficiaries will be given to those who have completed 84 days since the first dose,” said Agarwal.
In the PMC limits, 21 centres were administering Covishield vaccine. These centres were giving both, first and second dose. Around 60 per cent doses were administered by online booking, as per PMC officials. And 20 per cent doses were given to healthcare workers, frontline workers and 45 years and above beneficiaries by on-spot booking. Remaining 20 per cent doses were for beneficiaries with the second dose who have taken the first Covishield dose before February 24.
Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, deputy director of health, Pune circle, said that in spite of vaccine crunch, about 20 per cent population in Pune circle is vaccinated. “Till May 20, we are able to vaccinate more than 3.7 million that is, approximately 20% population in Pune circle. In Pune district, over 2.5 million, that is 23% of population is inoculated,” said Deshmukh.
On Thursday, there were 15 centres functional in PMC limits which were administering Covaxin. Each center had 150 doses and a second dose was given to beneficiaries who had taken the first dose before April 22.
Smita Kakade, a 55-year-old beneficiary, said that her son booked her an appointment for Thursday.
“I was lucky enough to get the slot. It is a good thing that vaccination for the first dose has started again for beneficiaries above 45 years of age,” said Kakade.
Arun Shinde, a 48-year-old beneficiary who tried booking the slot on Thursday, said that as many beneficiaries were trying to book a slot, the slot got filled quickly.
“It was very difficult to book an appointment at a centre as there was a lot of rush. I could not get a slot on Thursday. But will try again the next day,” said Shinde.
However, even on Thursday, many second dose beneficiaries were turned away from the vaccination centres as they have yet to complete the 84 days from the first dose.
Asmita Joshi, a 52-year-old beneficiary, said that she was asked to come again later after completing 84 days from the first dose.
“I have completed 60 days from the first dose. It is extremely frustrating to go back from the vaccination centre after booking the appointment and standing in line. Earlier, there was no vaccination stock available. And now the central government has changed the guidelines. I had to apply for leave at work to come to the centre today,” said Joshi.
Vax drive
On Thursday, 4,579 beneficiaries from PMC and 1,680 beneficiaries from Pune rural were inoculated. However, there was no vaccination drive in PCMC on Thursday. A total of 6,259 beneficiaries were inoculated on Thursday and only 101 centres were functional. Of 101, 30 were Covaxin centres and 71 Covishield.
