Utter chaos as vaccines run short across India
Rollout for 18+ may be delayed in most states; cases touch record 3.79L, 3,645 deaths in 1 day; fresh UP, Maha curbs
A day after Covishield’s manufacturer announced a reduction in its price for state governments, Bharat Biotech, maker of the indigenous Covaxin also announced a price cut for the states, from `600 to `400. But as the vaccine rollout in the fourth phase to cover all adult Indians above 18 is due to begin on Saturday, several states have said while they are ready to give the jab free to their citizens, as they don’t have sufficient stocks of the vaccine, the rollout would have to be delayed. Across the country, there are signs of utter chaos and a visible shortage of vaccines.
Already, several people above 45 years who are due to get their second dose of the vaccine are unable to receive their shots. In Delhi, those due to get their second shot got cancellation messages on Thursday. “My scheduled 2nd shot of Covaxin for May 2 booked two weeks ago has been summarily cancelled via SMS and trust me, rescheduling isn’t as easy as this text makes it sound. Just WOW. Vaccine Shortage is real,” tweeted journalist Maya Mirchandani.
A total of 84.36 lakh people registered for vaccinations on Thursday. The Jharkhand and Kerala health ministers said vaccines are not available at this point. “It is the duty of the Centre to supply vaccines. We are placing the order, but vaccine companies are saying they will supply the vaccine only in May end or early June. This onemonth delay will be dangerous.
We need vaccines urgently to save lives,” Kerala health minister K.K. Shailaja said. Jharkhand health minister Banna Gupta too had similar complaints. “The Centre wants to give free vaccines but the Jharkhand government wants to buy vaccines, which too are not available,” he said.
In Mumbai, officials said vaccinations for 18plus people can start only after enough vaccines are made available, and this may not happen from May 1. Delhi too said it had run out of doses and was waiting for fresh supplies from the manufacturers. Tamil Nadu is awaiting its order of 1.5 crore doses but is uncertain if the vaccinations for 18-plus can start from May 1. Punjab and Rajasthan too said they do not have enough stocks to
start vaccinating the much larger younger age group.
However, the Central government said the total vaccine doses available as of Thursday was 1.27 crore, while the total consumption of vaccines from January 16 to April 29 was 15.11 crores. As per an estimate, so far about 11.5 per cent of the Indian population of 130 crore people have got vaccinated, of which only 2.50 crore people have had both doses.
“More than one crore Covid19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union territories and they will receive over 20 lakh more doses within the next three days,” the Union health ministry said. Reacting to media reports quoting Maharashtra government officials that vaccines in the state had “finished” and “adversely impacting the vaccination drive”, health ministry officials said a balance of 7,49,960 vaccine doses were still available with Maharashtra for the eligible population groups.
The Delhi government has placed an order of 67 lakh doses of Covishield while Gujarat will receive two crore doses of Covishield and 50 lakh doses of Covaxin. “Had a meeting with officials on the vaccination drive in Delhi. Prepared a plan to vaccinate all above 18 years in the next three months. We will set up vaccination centres on a large scale. All eligible people must come forward to get vaccinated,” Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said.
Criticising the Centre’s claims, former finance and home minister P.
Chidambaram said: “Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will be put to test on May 1. His claim and his government’s claim that there are sufficient stocks of vaccines with the states will be blown away. No state seems to be ready to open vaccinations to the 18-44 population. Even the CoWin app is not cooperating! If people are turned away from the vaccination centres after May 1 on the ground of ‘No Vaccine’, will the health minister resign?”
India, meanwhile, continues to break its own records in terms of both Covid mortality and fresh case detections, with over 3.79 lakh new cases and 3,645 deaths recorded in a single day. At the same time, India’s recovery rate reached 82.10 per cent, with 2.69 lakh people recovering from the virus. In view of the high cases, Maharashtra government has extended the current lockdown till May 15 in the state. Another badly hit state, Uttar Pradesh, announced a complete shutdown from Friday evening till early Tuesday morning from April 30. It is expected that the Delhi government too may extend its lockdown till May 15.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a meeting with Army Chief Gen. M.M. Naravane to discuss initiatives being taken by the Army to help in Covid management. Gen. Naravane informed the PM that the Army’s medical staff would be made available to the state governments. He also told the PM that the Army was setting up temporary hospitals in various parts of the country.