Only 6 states to start vaccine drive

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

01.05.2021

Only six states will be able to start vaccination for the 18–44 age group when the nationwide drive to inoculate the younger lot kickstarts on Saturday. All other states and Union territories have either deferred vaccination for this age group by a few days or are uncertain about starting the exercise as they face vaccine shortage.

Even in these six states – Maharashtra, Rajasthan, UP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Odisha – the May 1 drive will be a ‘token’ one. In most of these states, it will be limited to just a few districts.

In Maharashtra, three lakh Covishield doses were distributed on Friday evening for the May 1 exercise after CM Uddhav Thackeray announced that everyone in the 18-44 age group would be vaccinated and the state would bear the cost of the coverage. Pune, Mumbai and Thane each got the largest share of 20,000 doses while other districts were given anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 doses each.

In Uttar Pradesh, another worst affected state, the drive will start on May 1 in only seven of the total 75 districts. Health department officials said the drive will take place only in Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Bareilly initially.

Raj to start vax drive in only 3 of 33 districts

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope told TOI that “we have planned to start vaccinating this age group in a small way initially as we are still short of doses”. He said that while the state needs around 12 crore doses for a population of 5.7 crore in the 18-44 age group, both Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech have given in writing to the state that they could provide13 lakh and 3.45 lakh doses, respectively, to Maharashtra in May alone.

Rajasthan will start the drive in only three of the 33 districts — Ajmer, Jaipur and Jodhpur — and was expecting three lakh vaccine doses by Friday midnight.

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani announced that vaccination for the age group will start in 10 out of 33 districts which have the highest load of Covid-19 positive cases.

The Odisha government announced the start of vaccination from Saturday after it received a consignment of 1.5 lakh doses of Covaxin on Friday evening.

Chhattisgarh health minister T S Singhdeo said the government will roll out the drive from May 1, but will give priority to Antyodaya cardholders and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).

However, all other states have deferred the drive due to uncertainty about the stocks.

Full report on www.toi.in