Vaccine shortage hits immunisation drive for teachers, students in Kerala
Vaccines were completely out of stock in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Wayanad districts.
Vaccines were completely out of stock in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Wayanad districts.
Vaccines were completely out of stock in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Wayanad districts.
Thiruvananthapuram: The vaccination drive for teachers and students against COVID-19 misfired on the very first day on Monday due to the acute shortage of vaccines. The government has already closed many vaccination centres due to the shortage.
Vaccines were completely out of stock in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Wayanad districts. Only 249,943 people were administered the vaccine on Monday.
Health Minister Veena George told reporters after a review meeting of the Health Department officials that many vaccination centres would be unable to function on Tuesday too because of shortage of vaccines.
The Union Government had earlier promised 2.91 lakh doses of Covishield and 86,000 doses of Covaxin to the State.
A drive was begun to vaccinate undergraduate and postgraduate students of colleges and lower-primary and upper-primary school teachers ahead of the reopening of educational institutions.
What experts allege
The State Government likely failed to give an exact figure when the Central Government asked about how many doses of vaccine it needed for this drive. However, the Health Department officials said they would be able to give the details on Tuesday itself.
The Centre is allocating doses to each State after assessing the weekly requirement. The State Government is slow in administering vaccines and hence, its weekly performance is below expectations, leading to dip in supplies from the Centre, several healthcare experts alleged.
As of now, it is estimated that 1,56,62417 got the first dose of the vaccine, while around 64,24876 received the second dose. Around 44.83 percent of population took the first dose, while only 18.3 percent managed to get the second dose of vaccine.
Vaccination for 60+ population
It is unlikely the State Government would be able to complete the vaccination drive for those who are above the age of 60 before the August 15 deadline.
The Central Government had agreed to give a total of 9 lakh doses of vaccines. But the problem is that from this, the State Government will have to allocate doses to other sections too. So, there is a remote possibility of meeting the deadline, according to officials.
The Centre had promised a delivery of 20.73 lakh doses of Covishield and 3.92 lakh doses of Covaxin by September 12.