Amidst an acute vaccine shortage in Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka, the vaccine drive seems to have slowed down due to a shortage of vaccine to innoculate the 18-44 age group.
Turning their focus to delivering the dose to those above the age of 45, states like Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka have decided to suspend the vaccination drive for 18-44 age group.
The Maharashtra government had previously decided to divert nearly 2.75 lakh
Covaxin doses that were purchased for the 18-44 group to complete the second doses for the older group reported TimesofIndia. [please attach a link.]
The state, has said that with a large number of people due for their second dose, they may prioritise people requiring the second dose, in which case the wait for the first shot may get longer for the 45+ category.
The BMC may consider walk-ins for some percentage of people over 45 years. “We will be issuing some fresh guidelines. Earlier, we were vaccinating 1.5 times our capacity. We have been able to bring that down to a normal rate and reduce overcrowding with online registrations
— Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner, BMC
CNN reports that the state is eyeing global supplies by floating foreign tenders and urging the centre to approve foreign vaccines which comes as a result of the two leading manufacturers – Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute struggle to meet the vaccine demands.
Along with Maharashtra, the capital has also decided to halt the rollout of Covaxin doses for the 18-44 age group.The decision comes as Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed that Hyderabad-based biotechnology company, Bharat Biotech, has declined to provide Covid-19 vaccine to the national capital. Bharat Biotech is manufacturing Covaxin that is currently being administered to the people in the country along with
Covishield says livemint. [attach link]
The state of Karnataka has rolled out its decision to suspend the vaccine drive for 18-44 years from May 14.The state government had decided to utilise the complete supply of vaccines provided by the Centre for vaccination of beneficiaries of 45 years and above who were due for the second dose.
Besides Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Tuesday joined several other states that have decided to issue global tenders for procurement of vaccines.
India has currently approved only 3 vaccines – Covaxin, Coveshield and Sputnik V, with the latter yet to be widely available in the country.
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