As cases surge, Chennai civic body starts vaccinating 18+

As cases surge, Chennai civic body starts vaccinating 18+

Move Has Been Long Advocated By Experts To Contain Virus

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.03.2021 

As Covid-19 cases rise again in Chennai, several primary health centres run by the city municipal corporation have been quietly vaccinating anyone over the age of 18 for the past few days, something several health experts have long been advocating.

The Union government has stipulated that only frontline workers of all ages, all those aged over 60 and people with co-morbidities aged 45-60 should be vaccinated for now.

TOI found that these PHCs in the city followed different criteria. One PHC gave shots to everyone over the age of 45; another vaccinated people with co-morbidities who were below the age of 45. A few people in their thirties said one PHC asked them to come after 2pm so that only those doses which would anyway gone waste would be administered to them. Priority was still for the strictly eligible. However, from last week, this particular PHC has started administering shots to everyone from 9am.

Once opened, a vial of Covaxin that contains 20 doses should be used in four hours. The same goes for a vial of Covidshield, which contains 10 doses.

The city’s civic body has the capacity to vaccinate 60,000 people a day. The maximum it managed was 35,215 on Saturday. The number dropped to 18,018 on Monday. Close to 5 lakh people in Chennai have been vaccinated so far.

Senior epidemiologists, virologists and infectious diseases experts have been asking the government to open vaccination for the general public.

Dr Subramanian Swaminathan, an infectious diseases expert said anything is better than wasting vaccines. “However, officials must prioritise those who deserve it more and that they don’t run out of doses,” he said.

Senior virologist Dr T Jacob John told TOI earlier, the state's the goal should be prevention of severe disease and death along with strategies for safe reopening. “We can do this more effectively by offering the vaccine to more people," he said. He even advocated delaying the second dose of Covishield. Studies also show that the efficacy goes from 54% to 82% when the vaccine's second dose of Covishield is delayed from 28 days to 12 weeks, he had said.

Eminent cardiologist Devi Shetty, writing in TOI, had advocated mass vaccination of people in the 20-45 age group saying they are the super spreaders.

A senior GCC official said these were stray incidents and that they have also been apprised of the situation and have taken steps to curb it . “GCC’s current instructions are to vaccinate only eligible citizens. We want all PHCs to work uniformly,” the official said.

A zonal level official said their definition of frontline workers has been expanded; this now includes those working at restaurants, auto and taxi drivers, house helps, cooks and security personnel at apartments and mall workers. “Every ward has been given a target of bringing at least 100 people for vaccination everyday,” the official said. There are 200 wards in the city.

There are 140 PHCs in the city. Apart from this, vaccines are also available at 16 other municipal corporation-run health centres, 175 private hospitals and 19 government hospitals in the city.

Elderly women after getting vaccinated in Guwahati, on Monday