PUNE: The first lot of 14 lakh ZyCoV-D vaccine doses may arrive soon in Maharashtrasources from the state health department said on Wednesday.
State immunization officer Dr Sachin Desai said, “Nashik and Jalgaon will be the first two districts to pilot ZyCoV-D vaccination in Maharashtra. The two districts were chosen two months ago as pilot sites. ZyCoV-D is a three-dose vaccine administered intradermally via a painless needle-free system on day 0, day 28 and day 56.”
Dr Desai said nearly 14 lakh doses will be supplied to Maharashtra from the Centre, enough to cover 4.5-5 lakh people, considering its three-dose regime. “Only those adults who have not yet started their Covid vaccination program will get this vaccine,” Dr Desai added.
A senior official from the health department said, “All doses will be reserved for a set number of beneficiaries as there is still no communication from the Center on how many doses will be allocated for states in the future. In order to preclude any possibility of shortages later, when beneficiaries will turn due for their second and third shots, the entire initial lot will be reserved for only those taking the shots from the first consignment.”
Nashik and Jalgaon districts were picked considering their high number of beneficiaries who are yet to start their vaccination schedules, another official said.
Dr BD Jamadar, district health officer, Jalgaon, said, “Training has already started for ZyCov-D. We are awaiting more guidelines on its launch. In every state set to get the shot, some pilot districts were picked up, including Jalgaon and Nashik in Maharashtra. Jalgaon may have been chosen because we had earlier (before the second wave) put forth a demand that in case a new vaccine is launched, the district would be more than willing to administer it. vaccine supplies were constrained.”
State immunization officer Dr Sachin Desai said, “Nashik and Jalgaon will be the first two districts to pilot ZyCoV-D vaccination in Maharashtra. The two districts were chosen two months ago as pilot sites. ZyCoV-D is a three-dose vaccine administered intradermally via a painless needle-free system on day 0, day 28 and day 56.”
Dr Desai said nearly 14 lakh doses will be supplied to Maharashtra from the Centre, enough to cover 4.5-5 lakh people, considering its three-dose regime. “Only those adults who have not yet started their Covid vaccination program will get this vaccine,” Dr Desai added.
A senior official from the health department said, “All doses will be reserved for a set number of beneficiaries as there is still no communication from the Center on how many doses will be allocated for states in the future. In order to preclude any possibility of shortages later, when beneficiaries will turn due for their second and third shots, the entire initial lot will be reserved for only those taking the shots from the first consignment.”
Nashik and Jalgaon districts were picked considering their high number of beneficiaries who are yet to start their vaccination schedules, another official said.
Dr BD Jamadar, district health officer, Jalgaon, said, “Training has already started for ZyCov-D. We are awaiting more guidelines on its launch. In every state set to get the shot, some pilot districts were picked up, including Jalgaon and Nashik in Maharashtra. Jalgaon may have been chosen because we had earlier (before the second wave) put forth a demand that in case a new vaccine is launched, the district would be more than willing to administer it. vaccine supplies were constrained.”
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