Covid-19 vaccination of people aged between 18 and 44 years would begin in all parts of the State soon as the first consignment of Covishield for the third-phase immunisation drive arrived on Saturday.
The consignment contained 1 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine. This vaccine is being administered to beneficiaries in every part of the State except in Bhubaneswar, where Covaxin is used. The State Government has placed an order of 3.77 crore doses of Covishield and 10.34 lakh doses of Covaxin for 1.93 crore people aged between 18 and 44 years and requested the two concerned manufacturers to supply the vaccines at the earliest.
Though the third-phase vaccination (18-44 years) was scheduled to begin on May 1, it got delayed due to late arrival of Covishield.
However, the third-phase immunisation began in Bhubaneswr on May 3 after the Bharat Biotech International supplied the first lot of Covaxin doses on May 1. In a latest move Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra on Saturday wrote to all Collectors, CDMOs, PHOs and Municipal Commissioners instructing them to run vaccination programme in Government Vaccine Centres for 18-44 age groups between 8 am to 1 pm.
The letter stated that due to less doses of Covishield, the vaccination programme would be held in five selected cities, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Brahmapur and Sambalpur.