45+ group left in lurch as Patiala stops vaccination drive

PATIALA : With the district health department’s sudden decision to stop vaccination of the 45+ age group due to shortage of doses, beneficiaries in have been left in the lurch.

As per the official notices pasted outside the jab centres in Patiala, the 45+ population will not be inoculated against Covid-19 till June 15 owing to a vaccine crunch in the district.

In the hope of finding doses on Saturday, some people of the said age group were seen doing making rounds of hospitals and various vaccine centres, but were turned away by the staff as only young adults were being inoculated there.

From Friday onwards, the state health department began administering Covid jabs to the 18-44 age group. This drive was supposed to kick off on May 1, but an acute vaccine shortage resulted in the delay.

“When I went to Nabha civil hospital to get my 69-year-old mother vaccinated, the medical staff told me they had run out of vaccines and that I should check for jab availability at the outreach camp at Government Ripudaman College,” said Chamkaur Singh, a local resident.

However, when he reached the college, he was told that the vaccine was only available for the 18-44 age group.

Another beneficiary Manpreet Singh said his parents had to return without jabs as the health staff asked them to come in mid-June, stating that the government was currently prioritising those below 45 years of age.

Patiala civil surgeon Dr Satinder Singh said they were conducting fewer vaccination drives as they were receiving very limited stock of doses.

“As many as 7,052 people were vaccinated on Saturday as the department received 5,600 doses under the state pool on Friday. Around 3,000 doses were received on Saturday, which will be divided among sub-divisional hospitals to carry the jab drives on Sunday,” said Dr Singh.