Punjab has run out of vaccines, severely affecting its attempts to inject safety into its citizens.
Even as the State Government has been insisting and launching mass campaigns to encourage people to come out in large numbers to get vaccinated, the shortage of vaccine has badly impacted its efforts.
Till the time of filing this report, the State’s vaccination quota for all age groups has dried up, and on Friday, majority of its vaccination centres would be closed.
“As of today, no vaccine is available with the state for any of the age group, and majority of our centres would be closed tomorrow. We are expecting to get Covaxin doses by tonight,” a senior Government official told The Pioneer.
The official said that as per the schedule given by the Government of India, Punjab was to get 1.14 lakh doses of Covaxin which has been delayed by a day. “We are hoping to get it by tomorrow and then we will start vaccination by distributing it further,” said the official.
As per the figures available, the state has received a total of 45,96,020 vaccines — including 41,36,940 doses of Covishield and 4,59,080 of Covaxin — from the Centre’s quota under Phase I and Phase II to vaccinate healthcare and frontline workers, and people above 45 years.
To vaccinate the young population, 18-44 age group, the State has received total 4,29,280 doses of Covishield vaccine from its own funds.
“Of the 45 lakh 90 thousand doses from GoI quota, already 44.90 lakh doses have been given, while 40,000 have been counted as wastage. The remaining 60,000 doses of Covaxin has been kept in reserve till May 31 as the Central Government’s instructions to give the second dose of vaccine,” said the official.
The State currently has 60,762 doses balance for above 45 years category, while all the vaccine doses for 18-44 years category was used by Wednesday evening.
To cover the entire population, the state required 3.5 crore doses of vaccines. As the state has received about 50 lakh doses till date, it has, as of now, covered just one-sixth of the total population.
Already, Moderna and Pfizer has turned down the State Government’s request to procure vaccines from these companies directly. The state is yet to receive any response from Sputnik and Johnson & Johnson.