Judicious use a shot in the arm for Chandigarh on vaccination front

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 18

The city has been able to use every last drop of the Covid-19 vaccine lately, preventing wastage. At least 8,600 more people received jabs than the vaccine available for the 18 to 44 age group.

Even 12 shots from a vial: UT

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One vial or bottle of the vaccine contains enough doses to vaccinate 10 individuals. The manufacturer adds one dose extra as a ‘wastage factor’. The medical staff have been able to use the extra dose as well. Our health staff were able to procure even the 12th dose from the vial with judicious use.— Arun Gupta, UT Principal Health Secretary

Health personnel have successfully administered up to 11 doses from a majority of the vials, allowing the UT to vaccinate more people than the actual number of doses provided.

The wastage is minus 7 per cent for the doses given to the 18 to 44 category in Chandigarh. “We had about 8,600 extra doses in the procurement supply for the 18-44 age group. After June 21, we will be able to calculate the overall wastage in the common pool,” said UT Principal Health Secretary Arun Gupta.

Gupta said, “One vial or bottle of the vaccine contains enough doses to vaccinate 10 individuals. The manufacturer adds one dose extra as a ‘wastage factor’. The medical staff have been able to use the extra dose as well. In most cases, a small amount gets lost when filling the needle for each patient. The wastage dose is included to compensate for this loss. The staff were trained not to waste the vaccine while filling the needle. Our health staff were able to procure even the 12th dose from the vial with judicious use.” “Initially, our wastage was 2 per cent, but we gradually changed our technique due to which we were able to use the last drop of each dose,” he said.

Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, Director, Health Services, UT, explained, “We used to collect the doses left at each vaccination centre and take these to the GMSH-16 centre. To save these doses, we used to vaccinate those needing it by registering them on the site. This way, we did not waste a single dose.”