Following the State government’s plan of large-scale vaccination to control the spread of COVID -19, the district administration has embarked on a drive, by opening up multiple sites and allowing private hospitals to give the jab to all in the 45 plus category. But since April 3, most of the private hospitals who have given the permission, are turning people out, as they do not have the required stock of vaccine vials.
Since the vials have to be purchased from the government-run department, the management of the hospitals say that they have put up the requisition, but have neither received the stock nor have they got any confirmation on replenishment.
According to the District Medical and Health Officer P. Suryanarayana, there is no shortage at present, but the supply to the private players has been reduced, as the demand has been very high, in the recent times.
Ever since, it was opened up to the private players, many are preferring them to the government-run centres and that is why the demand suddenly peaked, he said.
According to the health officials, at present there are about 60,000 vaccines in the district and all are stocked at various centres. This indicates that there may not be sufficient stock at the District Immunisation Centre, which handles the central cold storage.
It is also learnt that the flow of vaccines have reduced off late, as compared to the initial days.
In the initial period, the district was receiving good numbers and there were days when about 60,000 vaccines were sent on a day. But then the awareness had not picked up and vaccination programme was not to the desired-level.
But now as the demand has picked up with the onset of the second wave, the numbers have dropped to 10,000 to 14,000 per shipment, every three or four days, it is learnt from the Health Department.
As of now since the vaccination programme began on January 16, the district received around 3.8 lakh vaccines and so far close to 2.8 to 3 lakh have been vaccinated. In the initial days, the district was clocking around 6,000 jabs per day. But ever since the drive was taken up, it has gone up to 20,000 per day, and the district administration has set a target of about 30,000 per day, so that it can vaccinate close to 6 to 9 lakh people in the next 30 days. But if the availability is hit due to lack of timely replenishment, then the programme might receive a setback, said a senior doctor from KGH.
For a target of 30,000 jabs a day, there must be at least one lakh vaccines in the cold chain, he added.
Ever since, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken the first shot of Covaxin, the demand for it has been more. More people are preferring it to the other, this also may have created an imbalance, said District COVID Special Officer and Principal of Andhra Medical College P.V. Sudhakar.
