Administer 2nd dose of Covid vaccine on priority, Centre writes to state govt
CHANDIGARH: The central government has flagged the sluggish administration of Covid vaccine’s second dose in Punjab and asked the state government to take immediate measures to carry out the process on priority.
In a demi-official letter written to the Punjab government earlier this week, secretary, health and family welfare, Rajesh Bhushan, has cited the vaccination data till July 17 to strengthen the claims that the state was going ‘very slow’ on administering second doses of the vaccine.
“The dose interval for Covid-19 vaccines under the National Vaccination Drive is 12-16 weeks for Covishield and four to six weeks for Covaxin. The CoWIN data as on July 17 shows that 9,36,758 beneficiaries are due for second dose of Covishield (beyond 12 weeks of first dose) and 78,062 beneficiaries are due for second dose of Covaxin (beyond six weeks of first dose),” the letter stated.
Officials said among over nine lakh beneficiaries due for the secondary shot — as citied by the Centre — are two lakh whose second jab is pending for the past more than 40 days.
Following the Centre’s letter, director, health and family welfare, on July 23 wrote to all civil surgeons to immediately focus on increasing the administration of second doses to the tune of 80% from the fresh supply.
‘Vaccine shortage biggest reason behind pendency’
State’s nodal officer for Covid, Dr Rajesh Bhaskar, said the biggest reason behind the high pendency is the inadequate supply of vaccines.
“On Friday, we got just 28,000 doses, whereas on July 21, over 2.5 lakh doses arrived and most of them were consumed for second shots,” said the nodal officer. Punjab is expected to get the next supply of vaccines on July 28 and 29.
“I was due for my second shot one week ago. I belong to Sangrur, so I tried my best to get the jab there but without any success. In Mohali, too, I failed to get the second dose and ultimately I preferred to get one at a private facility,” said Vikas Gupta, a 34-year-old gym trainer.