Maharashtra: Health minister diverts Covid-19 vaccines meant for 18+ to complete second dose for 45+

Tope will discuss the slowing down of vaccination for 18-44 years group with the Covid-19 task force. Pic/Ashish Raje

The vaccination of those in the 18-44 age group is most likely to hit the brakes as the state government has decided to divert available stocks to give the second dose to those 45 years and above. While the vaccine shortage has hit the state's inoculation drive, a huge number of older citizens are waiting for their second dose. Till Monday, 1,49,10,258 people had got their first dose, while 34,97,207 had received their second dose.

As Covishield's stock exhausted quickly, the state govt started giving only Covaxin as the first dose and kept Covishield for the second one. Pic/Ashish Raje

According to Health Minister Rajesh Tope, the state needs over five lakh Covaxin doses and 16 lakh Covishield doses for the 45-plus age group's second shot. "We have inoculated 1.84 crore people (first and second shot included) so far. The Centre is expected to give us vaccines for the 45-plus group. The waitlist for the second shot is huge. We have only 35,000 doses of Covaxin available (the Centre's free supply). We have decided to use 2.45 lakh doses of Covaxin that we bought for the 18-44 group for the 45-plus citizens," said Tope.

Tope said he discussed the supply with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan but since the Centre also had a shortage, the state decided to use the jabs procured for the 18-44 years group. Will the diversion halt the youngsters' inoculation completely or limit its pace? Tope said he will discuss slowing down the younger lot's vaccination with the Covid-19 Task Force.

In addition, 1,17,50,388 people in the 45-plus category have got their first shot and only 21,85,740 have availed the second one, apparently because of shortage of both vaccines. Reports coming in from various cities, towns and villages said people are desperate to get immunised, but unavailability or inadequate supply of vaccines disappointed them.

The number of healthcare workers (HCW) and frontline workers (FLW) says that the state would need huge stocks for their second shot. Vaccines for the HCW/FLW and 45-plus vaccines are provided by the Centre, while the state has to buy for the 18-44 years group. Till Monday, 11,30,752 HCWs were given the first shot, while 6,74,454 got their second. Among FLWs, 15,18,600 (first dose) and 6,37,013 (second dose) were jabbed.

In the 18-44 years group, which has 5.71 crore people, only 5,10,518 have been able to get their first shot since May 1, the day their programme started. This number doesn't include HCWs and FLWs.

What led to the problem?

Sources said in March, the state had both Covishield and Covaxin available. Much in demand then, Covishield stocks would exhaust quickly, but mostly Covaxin remained in stock. The Centre's policy allowed fresh supply only after current stocks were used completely. So, in mid-March, the state government decided to use only Covaxin for the first dose and kept Covishield for the second dose. Soon, the number of Covaxin receivers increased manifold but by the beginning of April, Covishield supply shrunk and at times, it wasn't available. With Covaxin in short supply now, people have been forced to wait over four to six weeks for their second shot. For Covishield, a period of six to eight weeks is recommended.

Situation across state

The state has so far given 1,32,02,645 first doses and 30,80,715 second doses of Covishield, and 17,07,613 first doses and 4,16,492 second doses of Covaxin.

In Mumbai, 19,71,274 had received the first shot of Covishield and 6,25,042 the second; 1,29,234 were given Covaxin's first shot and 57,097 their second, till Monday evening. In Thane district, 10,31,622 got the first jab of Covishield and 2,49,479 got the second; 1,02,489 were given Covaxin's first shot and 39,810 their second.

In Pune district, Covishield was used for 18,57,634 first shots and 3,88,872 second doses; the district gave 1,75,903 first doses and 65,235 second doses of Covaxin.

Nagpur district used Covishield for 8,56,739 first dose and 1,91,903 second dose, it used Covaxin's 52,073 doses as the first shot and 19,097 doses as second one.

Among others, the Covaxin situation in Chandrapur district was alarming. As against 13,430 first doses, only 83 second doses were administered. While Covishield's first and second dose were numbered at 2,20,975 and 43,792 respectively. Solapur district has given Covaxin's 8,938 first doses and 852 second doses; Covishield's 3,32,847 first dose and 80,503 second dose were administered.

In Tope's native Jalna district, the waitlist for the second shot was as long as other districts. It had given 39,272 first and 3,931 second doses of Covaxin, and 1,64,320 first and 34,382 second shots of Covishield till Monday.

1,17,50,388
No. of first doses (for 45+) given in state as on Mon

21,85,740
No. of 2nd doses (for 45+) given in state as on Mon

2.45 Lakh
No. of Covaxin doses bought for the 18-44 years group to be used for the 45-plus group