Bhubaneswar: Vaccine shortage in Odisha has affected the drive for the 18-44 age group in the state. The Odisha government had earlier announced free vaccination of this category of people. Now, however, the entire scenario is one of doubt and apprehension.
Vaccination of the 18-44 age group started in the first week of May in the towns of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Puri, Bargarh, Khurda, Bhawanipatna, Nabarangpur and Koraput. The recipients in the state capital were given Covaxin jabs while for other towns it was Covishield.
However, now due to the shortage of vaccines, the drive has been severely affected in all places. In the state capital, vaccination of the 18-44 age group happened in only three facilities Thursday. As of now, the state has only 3,100 Covaxin doses – an amount that will not last for even a day.
Odisha has enough stock of Covaxin under the Central government quota. However, despite the state government’s request, the Centre has not allowed it to use the vaccine for the 18-plus population.
Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das had requested Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to allow the state utilise 3.45 lakh doses of Covaxin on loan basis. He said the amount can later be adjusted with the quote to be supplied to Odisha. However, he is yet to hear from the Centre.
In May, Odisha was allocated 1,65,940 Covaxin doses which were exhausted within a couple of days. For the month of June, the state has been allocated 1,64,370 Covaxin doses with the rider that these can only be used for people availing the second dose. Health department sources informed, Odisha is likely to receive 26,000 doses of Covaxin by June 7 and 2,27,750 doses of Covishield by June 9.
