Odisha halts Covid vaccination amid dose shortage

Additional chief secretary of health and family welfare department PK Mohapatra said with just 114,000 doses of Covishield vaccines left, the state government has to curtail the vaccination programme

Published on: Jul 2, 2021, 14:57:47 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The Odisha government on Friday halted Covid-19 vaccination in 17 of 30 districts amid a shortage of doses, even as 100,000 doses of Covishield arrived in the state.

Additional chief secretary of health and family welfare department PK Mohapatra said with just 114,000 doses of Covishield vaccines left, the state government has to curtail the vaccination programme. “Odisha needs at least 9 million doses in July to achieve its daily vaccination targets of 300,000 doses. However, the supply has been erratic,” he said.

Among the 17 districts where vaccination is being halted are four districts with high positivity rate - Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack and Kendrapara. On Thursday, vaccination was conducted in only 16 districts due to lack of doses.

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The state is targeting completion the vaccination ahead of the imminent Covid-19 third wave.

Health and Family Welfare department officials said a consignment of 1 million Covishield vaccines are scheduled to reach the state by Saturday. But even then it would not be enough to sustain the target of 300,000 doses daily.

Till Thursday, Odisha had administered 11.9 million doses. The state needs to administer 61.8 million jabs to vaccinate all persons above the age of 18.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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