Pune dist admin faces possible shortage of doses as frontline workers get ready for vaccination

District administration had received 78,000 doses of both Covishield and Covaxin, of which 2,000 doses of Covaxin were sent to District Hospital, Aundh

The district administration is likely to face a shortage of the Covid-19 vaccine doses if the second instalment of the vaccines do not arrive in time. Frontline workers are second in line after healthcare workers to get the Covid-19 vaccine in the second round of phase II of the vaccination drive. The district administration needs close to 4.29 lakh doses, including the possible 10% wastage for about 1.95 lakh registered beneficiaries.

Of the 1.95 lakh registered beneficiaries, over 1.10 lakh are only healthcare workers while the remaining 85,000 are frontline workers. (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

The district administration had received 78,000 doses of both Covishield and Covaxin, of which 2,000 doses of Covaxin were sent to District Hospital, Aundh. Of the 78,000 doses of Covishield, currently 40,780 doses are available with the authorities which include the second doses kept aside for the beneficiaries who received their first doses since January 16. Of the 1.95 lakh registered beneficiaries, over 1.10 lakh are only healthcare workers while the remaining 85,000 are frontline workers. The registration for the frontline workers is still going on which means that the number is likely to be higher.

Frontline workers include police officials, armed forces, disaster management volunteers, municipal workers, home guards, and civil defence organisations and prison staff.

The district administration is yet to receive a date to start the vaccination for frontline workers which is likely to start in the first week of this month. Dr Ashish Bharti, PMC health department chief, said, “We have not yet got the date and the link is not activated in the software. The beneficiaries have been registered and because of these technical issues no one has been able to start the vaccination for frontline workers. We have vaccinated about 7,500 healthcare workers as of now and we have 55,000 more to go. The second dose is also pending which would start from February 13. We have been told by the state that we would get the required doses shortly. Looking at the current stock it would not be enough even for the 55,000 pending healthcare workers.

Dr Bharti added, “Without completing the first round of vaccinating healthcare workers for whom we will now start the second round by mid-February, to start the first round for frontline workers is a scary situation. It would be difficult to balance the situation. Already the system is exhausted, we had a polio drive on Sunday and this has been going on for a long time now. The vaccination would go on for five days every week for months which could lead to fatigue among the staff.”

Dr Bhagwan Pawar, district health officer, said, “We have about 85,000 frontline workers registered as of Sunday in the district. We have enough doses as of now and we will get additional doses and it is a routine process. The state has committed to provide more doses whenever required.”