New Delhi: Only 6 states will start the vaccination drive right now for these above the age of 18 whereas most states have mentioned that because of the scarcity of provide they’re unlikely to start the Phase 3 of the vaccination drive right now or can be restricted to a couple districts.
These states like Delhi, Kerala, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra – which is without doubt one of the worst hit – have mentioned that wouldn’t have adequate dose to start the vaccination drive for 18-44 age group.
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Vaccination scarcity in states
Authorities of Mumbai have shut down vaccination drive for 3 days from Friday citing lack of sufficient doses. “Vaccination in Mumbai can be fully closed for 3 days from Friday, April 30, 2021 to Sunday, May 2, 2021 resulting from depletion of obtainable vaccines,” the civic body said in a statement.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the people of Delhi not to queue up outside vaccination centres as the national capital is experiencing a shortage of vaccines. Kejriwal said that Delhi will not be commencing the third phase of vaccination to inoculate people of 18-44 yrs of age. Arvind Kejriwal also informed that the capital is likely to receive a huge stock of Covishield vaccine in the next 2 days after which it will begin the drive to vaccine all the adults.
Meanwhile, in Rajasthan inoculation will start in only three districts – Ajmer, Jaipur and Jodhpur. In Gujarat the drive will be carried out only in 10 out of 33 districts.
West Bengal will begin the vaccination drive from May 5th whereas Assam, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh have confirmed that they not start the vaccination drive for everyone above 18 from today.
Private Hospitals to begin vaccination
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Max Healthcare Institute and Fortis Healthcare on Friday announced that a few of their hospitals will begin the vaccination drive from May 1st. But as per government guidelines, all vaccinations will only be done through prior appointment on the government’s Co-WIN platform, and no vaccine would be administered on a walk-in basis.
Fortis Healthcare will solely be utilizing Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Max Healthcare can be utilizing SII’s Covishield in the meantime; Apollo Hospitals can be vaccinating with each Covaxin and Covishield.
