The wait for the COVID vaccine continues to get longer.
At a time when the pandemic is raging, the non-availability of vaccines, especially Covaxin, is making people jittery. On Thursday, long queues were seen at vaccine centres with people jostling with each other to get the jab.
On Wednesday, 9,938 vaccines were administered to people aged over 60 (1,679 first-timers and 8,259 second-timers). A total of 12,176 vaccines were administered to people in the age group of 18-45 (3,301 first-timers and 8,875 second-timers).
In a recent meeting, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy announced that the government has set a target of vaccinating six lakh persons a day. However, with the Centre clarifying that State governments would have to take the responsibility of buying vaccines for the age group of 18-45, the government is now focusing on completing vaccination for the most vulnerable group of those above 60 years and people between 45-60 years and those with comorbidities.
Andhra Pradesh, which projected a vaccine demand for 5.26 crore people on October 1, 2020, has received 70.30 lakh vaccine doses, out of which 69.82 lakh doses have been administered, indicating a wastage of 0.93%. The State has a balance of 48,126 lakh doses and 2.65 lakh doses are in the pipeline.
“This is a remarkable achievement and I salute the efforts of the Chief Minister who had come up with the innovative idea to launch vaccination at village/ward secretariats, thus institutionalising a complex procedure. I also thank our dedicated team of village/ward volunteers, ANMs, nurses and health workers for achieving the feat,” said Narsaraopet MP Lavu Srikrishnadevarayulu.
One of the most badly affected States in the country, Andhra Pradesh has been devastated by a vicious second wave which is expected peak in the second week of May. A bulletin released by the State Command Control Room on Wednesday revealed that 22,204 persons tested positive, out of 1.16 lakh samples tested. East Godavari, Anantapur and Visakhapatnam recorded over 2,000 cases, followed by Guntur (1,972 cases), and Prakasam (2,001) cases.
The second wave of the pandemic has led to a sense of panic and the demand for vaccination is at an all-time high. People are now beginning to ask for vaccines in large numbers even as many people who have been administered the first dose are still waiting to get their second one.
