Having run out of vaccine stocks for 45 years and above, the State government on Wednesday announced that vaccination for the 18 to 44 age group (including those who have already booked appointments) will be temporarily suspended in all government vaccination centres from May 14 till further orders.
According to an official statement, the State government has decided that the vaccine procured directly by the State for vaccination of persons between 18 and 44 years will now be utilised for vaccination of beneficiaries who are due for the second dose. The State has so far procured a stock of nearly 7 lakh doses of Covishield for the 18-44 age group and more consignments are awaited.
“On May 7, the government decided to utilise the complete supply of vaccines provided by the Government of India only for vaccination of persons above 45 years and for vaccinating beneficiaries who were due for second dose,” the statement said.
“Therefore, all vaccines available with the State government (i.e. supplied by Government of India and procured directly by the State) will be utilised for vaccination of beneficiaries due for the second dose,” the statement added.
Although Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar had on April 30 appealed to people to refrain from visiting vaccination centres from May 1, hinting that the State had no stocks, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa symbolically flagged off the fourth phase of vaccination for the 18-44 age group on May 1.
Subsequently, Dr. Sudhakar announced on May 9 that the drive would begin in all government centres from May 10. The demand for vaccination has been high in this age group with 74,105 beneficiaries taking the jab in the last three days.
It is estimated that there are about 3.26 crore people in the State in this age group with a requirement of 6.52 crore doses of the vaccine for complete inoculation. The State government has already placed an order for two crore doses of Covishield and one crore doses of Covaxin in this regard.
