E-Paper
Vaccination drive for second dose beneficiaries resumes in Pune city
Rubal Agarwal, Pune additional municipal commissioner, said Covishield centres were dedicated for priority beneficiaries who took the first jab before March 20
The vaccination drive for 45-plus beneficiaries resumed in Pune city on Wednesday after four days of dose unavailability. The district administration has also added three more centres for Covaxin beneficiaries between the age group of 18 and 44 years from Wednesday.
The priority second doses for 45 years and above beneficiaries of Covishield were administered at 97 centres on Wednesday after Pune city received 73,800 doses on Tuesday late evening. Along with this, 18 centres in Pune city were administering Covaxin to beneficiaries above the age of 45 years.
Rubal Agarwal, Pune additional municipal commissioner, said Covishield centres were dedicated for priority beneficiaries who took the first jab before March 20.
“For Covaxin, 18 centres are directed to give priority to beneficiaries who took the first jab before April 5,” said Agarwal.
Pune district on Wednesday reported 61,426 beneficiaries receiving the jabs. Of this, 55,330 were beneficiaries above the age of 45 years. The vaccination drive picked up pace as 12,099 beneficiaries in PMC, 31,034 beneficiaries in Pune rural and 12,197 in PCMC received the jabs on Wednesday. Since May 1, only Pune rural was administering vaccines to beneficiaries but the number was not very high due to limited vaccine stock. On Wednesday, there were a total of 474 vaccination centres in the district.
Shekhar Patil, a 50-year-old beneficiary who received the second jab after waiting for almost a week, said there was a little rush at the centre but he got his jab.
“It is over 45 days since I took my first dose. I am happy that after visiting vaccine centres for almost a week, I finally received the second dose. It is a good decision to give second-dose beneficiaries priority. Vaccination is important to keep everyone safe and break the chain of infection,” said Patil.
Vaccination for 18-44 year group
On Wednesday, 6,096 beneficiaries reported receiving the first jab of vaccine in Pune district. Of these, 2,080 beneficiaries were in PMC limits, 2,474 were in Pune rural and 1,538 were in PCMC.
Even though vaccination at two centres ran smoothly, many beneficiaries reported difficulty in registering for new sites.
Karuna Kadam, 28, said she faced problems like scheduling an appointment at new centres.
“Some of my friends got the registration done, but scheduling an appointment was difficult. However, we are still trying to get an appointment at centres that are administering Covaxin vaccine,” said Kadam.
Agarwal said that the vaccination drive in the city will continue on May 6 as well.
“The remaining doses are less with PMC. But the drive will continue to inoculate beneficiaries on May 6 as well,” said Agarwal.
Three more vaccination centres for 18-44 year group in the city
Centre--Vaccines
Kamla Nehru Hospital--Covishield
Rajiv Gandhi Hospital--Covishield
Jayabai Sutar Hospital-- Covaxin
Annasaheb Magar Hospital--Covaxin
Murlidhar Laigude Hospital--Covaxin
