As the country continues to battle the second wave of COVID-19, India will begin a vaccination campaign for those aged 18 to 44 on Saturday.
However, some states have expressed their inability to begin vaccinations for people over the age of 18 as early as today due to a vaccine shortage. On April 19, the Centre announced a “liberalised” policy, allowing everyone over the age of 18 to be vaccinated beginning May 1. It has also made it possible for state governments and private hospitals to buy vaccines directly from manufacturers.
According to the revised rules, the centre will receive half of the vaccines distributed, with the remainder going to states and private hospitals.
More than 2.45 crore beneficiaries have registered for Phase III of the vaccination drive on the Co-WIN portal, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Several states, however, have stated that they will not be able to begin the drive on Saturday due to a shortage caused by a delay in vaccine procurement.
On Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged residents not to queue at vaccination centres because vaccines had not yet arrived.
“I respectfully request that you do not queue tomorrow at the centres (Saturday). We’ll make proper announcements as soon as the vaccines arrive. People with appointments can only begin to visit the centres after that “According to the Chief Minister,
On Friday, the West Bengal government announced that the vaccination drive for people aged 18 to 44 will begin as soon as the state receives vaccine doses. Those over the age of 45 will continue to be vaccinated, it added.
The Tamil Nadu government has also postponed the planned May 1 launch of a mass vaccination campaign for people aged 18 to 44.
According to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, there appears to be a significant gap between vaccine demand and supply in the country, and it will not be possible to provide vaccination to those aged 18 to 44 beginning May 1, and they will have to wait until August or September at the earliest.
Because the government has not yet received a new batch of vaccines, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has asked people aged 18 to 45 not to visit vaccination centres on Saturday. He stated that the government will notify the public well in advance of the start of the vaccination campaign for this age group, as well as the registration procedure.
Because vaccines are not available, the COVID-19 vaccination campaign for people aged 18 to 45 will not begin on May 1 in Madhya Pradesh, according to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan.
The state government had spoken to both the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers in the country, Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, and had been told that they would not be able to provide doses of the vaccine, according to the Chief Minister.
Dr. K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s health minister, urged residents aged 18 to 44 to “refrain from going to hospitals” on Saturday, citing a lack of COVID-19 vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII).
Because of a vaccine shortage, Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singh Deo said the state will begin vaccinations with the poorest people who have an Antyodaya ration card or a BPL card.
On Friday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the state government will begin a nominal vaccination drive on May 1 because Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray believes that vaccination for those aged 18 to 44 should begin on that date.
On January 16, India began a COVID-19 vaccination campaign using two vaccines: Covishield (an Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India) and Covaxin (an Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India) (manufactured by Bharat Biotech Limited).
On March 1, the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which aims to protect people over 60 and those over 45 with comorbidities from the coronavirus, began.
For those over 45, the third phase began on April 1. Everyone over the age of 18 will be eligible for the shot in the next phase, which starts on May 1.
