After the liquid oxygen crisis, Gurugram is now grappling with the Covid vaccine shortage amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases across the district.
While the Haryana government has placed an order for 66 lakh vaccine doses, the state has been allocated only 4.3 lakh vaccines by the Centre.
Meanwhile, the state has rolled out the vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group from May 2.
ALSO READ: Railways to deliver 120 MT of medical oxygen to Delhi
In Gurugram, the private hospitals have close their vaccination centres due to the unavailability of doses.
Hospital management said that vaccine manufacturers have put them on a waiting list and it may take around two to three months to get the required dosages.
According to the health officials, they are waiting for the second consignment of vaccination.
“We are yet to receive more vaccines from the state. As and when we get the vaccines, we will speed up the drive. The health department have already informed the government,” said Virender Yadav, Chief Medical Officer, Gurugram.
According to the district health department data, until May 3, over 178,200 people aged 45 to 59 years took their first dose, but only 13,000 of them have received the second shot.
On Tuesday, a total of 4,017 people in the 45 plus age bracket got vaccinated in the city at 37 session sites.
Overall, 4.28 lakh people are eligible for getting the jabs, of whom 3.80 lakh have already taken the shot.
Meanwhile, the health department said that private hospitals have to arrange their vaccine doses on their own.
“We are not responsible for providing vaccine doses to private hospitals any more. The hospitals are supposed to get their vaccine directly from the companies,” Yadav said.
Health officials also informed that, due to the limited supply of vaccine, session sites have decreased to 59 from 89 in the district.
ALSO READ: Less Oxygen Allotment at Delhi Base Hospital, Army Complaints to Govt
Until the first week of April, vaccination took place at 37 government health centres and 52 private hospitals.
“Hospitals are not getting any vaccine stock from manufacturers as they are obliged to provide doses to central and state governments. Due to unavailability of stock, second dose beneficiaries who have been directly reaching hospital every day are asked to go back,” said, a senior doctor of a leading hospital in Gurugam requesting anonymity.
Tapan Yadav (54), a resident of Sector-56, said he has not been able to get the second shot of vaccine despite visiting many private and government health facilities over the last four days,” he said, adding that,AAt a time when the covid virus is at its peak, the vaccination process could have been streamlined, especially for the elderly”.
People also flagged issues with booking slots on the Co-WIN platform.
SOURCE-IANS
