Patiala sans Covaxin, has limited Covishield stock

Karam Parkash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 28

Amid the government’s push for vaccination, the stock of Covaxin is running dry while that of Covishield is very limited.

It was learnt that many health centres today had a depleted vaccine pool. The Civil Surgeon, Dr Satinder Singh, said they had around 4,500 doses of the Covishield vaccine today and left with not a single dose of Covaxin. He said: “We got 4,000 doses of Covishield on Wednesday. However, we didn’t get any fresh supply of Covaxin.”

The district had an average daily consumption of around 5,000 vaccines. However, last week, it was the vaccination of around 7,000 beneficiaries per day.

Owing to the shortage, some centres were left with only 10-15 shots. When asked about the vaccine shortage at health centres situated in remote areas, Civil Surgeon replied: “Some centres have very less consumption, especially in rural areas where vaccine hesitancy still persists.”

‘Goof-up’ in second dose

• Sources in the Health Department said many beneficiaries, who had received the first dose of Covaxin, were given Covishield in the second dose because no Covaxin was available. But this is against the guidelines issued by the the Central Government, say experts.
• Manjeet Singh, one of the beneficiaries, said: “I had received a message on my mobile phone to get my second dose of vaccine. But I learnt that I was administered Covishield in the second dose, instead of Covaxin.”
• When asked about the lapse, Dr Veenu Goyal, District Immunisation Officer, said: “It is the responsibility of a beneficiary to inform the vaccinator about his first dose of vaccine. The beneficiaries should not mix up both types of vaccines.”