DELHI RESTRICTS 20% COVISHIELD, 40% COVAXIN FOR FIRST DOSES

NEW DELHI: The Delhi health department on Sunday issued fresh orders asking district authorities to restrict 20% doses of Covishield and 40% doses of Covaxin for the first shot, officials said. The remaining doses will be reserved for the second shot till the supply situation improves, an official said.

“We have issued fresh orders today (Sunday). The first and second dose of Covishield and Covaxin will now be administered in 20:80 and 40:60 ratios, respectively, at government centres,” the official said.

The Delhi government on July 22 ordered that only the second dose of Covishield vaccine will be administered at government inoculation centres till July 31 due to limited supply.

Fewer than 11,000 vaccine doses were administered in the city on Sunday, showed data from the Cowin dashboard.

According to a bulletin by the Delhi government, 83,042 doses were administered on Saturday, of which 62,863 were second jabs. Delhi had five days of vaccines left as of Sunday morning.

According to the Cowin portal, 10,882 doses were administered Sunday, the low numbers on account of it being a holiday when the Delhi government’s centres remain closed.

The vaccination drive in Delhi slowed through July after an initial spurt, reaching over 200,000 doses a day in June-end after the Centre changed the immunisation policy, providing free vaccines for all age groups. Over 100,000 vaccines were administered on six days during the first half of July, with the number of jabs never crossing the mark during the second half.