The Covid-19 inoculation drive has been completely halted in over half of Odisha due to shortage of Covishield vaccine. The immunisation was stopped in 16 districts on Thursday as the vaccine stock thinned out.
Currently, the availability of Covaxin doses is more than 3 lakh and only 19,000 Covishield doses are in stock, for which the vaccines are being administered at only 114 sessions sites in the State, of which 72 centres are in Bhubaneswar, informed Family Welfare Director Bijay Panigrahi on Thursday. The drive would be resumed after a fresh consignment of Covishield vaccine arrives from the Centre, which was expected in a day, he said, adding that one lakh Covishield doses were expected to reach the State later on Thursday.
Notably, earlier, State Health Minister Naba Kishore Das had urged Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan for urgent supply of Covishield vaccine doses to the State.
Panigrahi said, “Though we have already received the vaccine quota for the month of June, we had requested the Centre to allocate additional 6 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine to ensure smooth management of the vaccination drive in the State. However, we are yet to receive it till today. As much as the doses of Covishield are expected to reach the State, it will be insufficient for the beneficiaries of different age groups.” The State is targeting to complete the vaccination ahead of an imminent Covid-19 third wave, he said, adding, “However, it depends on availability of the vaccines.”