No Covid vaccine available with Chandigarh hospitals since February

Tribune News Service

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, April 28

The Chandigarh Health Department has been struggling to acquire Covid-19 vaccines since February this year. Despite efforts by the local Health Department to secure a new batch of vaccines, the situation has not improved, leaving a significant proportion of the population without any protection against the virus.

Over 19% of children aged 12-14 years have not yet received their first dose of the Corbevax vaccine and only 55% of them have been fully immunised with both doses of the vaccine. In the age group of 15 to 18 years, only 80% of children have been fully vaccinated, with 20% missing their second dose.

The situation is not much better for the booster dose, which has been available for over a year now. Only 13.57% of the eligible population above 18 years has taken the booster shot in Chandigarh.

In an effort to increase the coverage for the third dose, the Chandigarh Administration had last year organised camps in various parts of the city.

The lack of vaccination coverage is a significant concern, as the city currently has around 287 active cases of Covid, with an average of 40 cases being reported in a week. The daily positivity rate is hovering at 6 %. The situation is especially worrying given that Chandigarh had attained 100% coverage for double-dose vaccination in January last year.

Dr Suman Singh, Director Health Services, said, “We have written to the Central Government to provide new batch of Covid-19 vaccines, but it has not been supplied yet. The Central Government needs to take immediate action to address the vaccine shortage in Chandigarh and ensure that the city’s population receives the necessary doses to protect themselves against the virus.”