RANCHI: Working on the limited stock of Kovidshield vaccines provided by the state health department a day back, Vaccination Sites across Ranchi struggled to manage the serpentine queues of beneficiaries on Tuesday.
This was a drastic step for health workers looking after the city’s 19 session sites, which were opened to vaccinate urban beneficiaries. Facing the scorching sun and rain, beneficiaries of all age group above 18 years were queuing outside for their work.
With little or no stock of Covaxin in the district, a large proportion of the beneficiaries who were due for their second dose were returned. With only 22,000 doses of Covishield, it was difficult for health workers to ration the doses between beneficiaries who were on their second dose and those who had come for their first dose.
“Most of the session sites operate on a first-come-first-served basis,” said a senior district health services official.
Manoj Kumar, a resident of Sector 3 area of Dhurwa, along with his wife Sarla Devi had come to the HEC wellness center to receive the second dose of Covishield. “We had to wait for more than an hour to take our doses,” Manoj said. Laxman Zalxo, who had reached the Government Middle School premises in the BMP1 campus of Doranda, was returned. “I was told that due to the paucity of vaccines, only the first dose is being given. I was there to take my second dose,” Zalaxo said.
Ranchi Civil Surgeon Dr Vinod Kumar indicated that the crisis for vaccines would continue on Wednesday. “We had received 22,000 doses of Covishield on Monday, of which 21,500 doses were distributed on Tuesday for vaccination. We will not get any new batch of Covishield today. We have to get 2,500 doses of Covaxin tomorrow. So, vaccination will be from the dose of Covaxin at the session sites and the remaining stock of Covishield,” Kumar said.
The state health department on Tuesday said it has distributed 4 lakh doses of Covaxin in 24 districts. Ranchi was allotted the maximum 3,400 doses, followed by Dhanbad with 2,900 doses. The department claimed that the state has a daily target of immunizing 1.18 lakh people, while it had 3.52 lakh doses, which is enough to last for less than three days.
This was a drastic step for health workers looking after the city’s 19 session sites, which were opened to vaccinate urban beneficiaries. Facing the scorching sun and rain, beneficiaries of all age group above 18 years were queuing outside for their work.
With little or no stock of Covaxin in the district, a large proportion of the beneficiaries who were due for their second dose were returned. With only 22,000 doses of Covishield, it was difficult for health workers to ration the doses between beneficiaries who were on their second dose and those who had come for their first dose.
“Most of the session sites operate on a first-come-first-served basis,” said a senior district health services official.
Manoj Kumar, a resident of Sector 3 area of Dhurwa, along with his wife Sarla Devi had come to the HEC wellness center to receive the second dose of Covishield. “We had to wait for more than an hour to take our doses,” Manoj said. Laxman Zalxo, who had reached the Government Middle School premises in the BMP1 campus of Doranda, was returned. “I was told that due to the paucity of vaccines, only the first dose is being given. I was there to take my second dose,” Zalaxo said.
Ranchi Civil Surgeon Dr Vinod Kumar indicated that the crisis for vaccines would continue on Wednesday. “We had received 22,000 doses of Covishield on Monday, of which 21,500 doses were distributed on Tuesday for vaccination. We will not get any new batch of Covishield today. We have to get 2,500 doses of Covaxin tomorrow. So, vaccination will be from the dose of Covaxin at the session sites and the remaining stock of Covishield,” Kumar said.
The state health department on Tuesday said it has distributed 4 lakh doses of Covaxin in 24 districts. Ranchi was allotted the maximum 3,400 doses, followed by Dhanbad with 2,900 doses. The department claimed that the state has a daily target of immunizing 1.18 lakh people, while it had 3.52 lakh doses, which is enough to last for less than three days.
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