Due to the short supply of vaccines, the Telangana government has decided to prioritise people’s second vaccine dose in the state until May 15. The government announced that the first dose of the vaccine will not be given to anyone between May 8 and May 12.
According to the Director of Public Health (DPH), the government only has a stock of 3.75 lakh doses. “In light of low allocation of vaccine till May 15, (4.69 lakh of Covishield and 2.16 lakh of Covaxin) and in order to optimally utilize the available doses, special drive has been launched to cover people who are eligible for 2nd dose,” the DPH said in a statement on Friday.
The DPH also permitted walk-ins for the second dose. All those who are eligible for the second dose will be permitted to take the vaccine by spot registration after showing their partial vaccination certification at government vaccination centres.
Covishield can be taken six weeks after the first dose, and Covaxin can be taken after four weeks.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao spoke to the Prime Minister regarding the shortage of vaccines in the state, and asked him to provide 2 lakh doses of vaccine per day, according to the state government.
DPH Dr G Srinivasa Rao, addressing the media on Friday, said that for the month of May, a total of 19,92 lakh people (Covaxin - 3,30,714, Covishield - 16,61,543) are due for their second dose.
A total of 4.99 lakh people are due for the second dose by May 15, while the state only has 3.75 lakh doses. The DPH said that they are expecting another 3.11 lakh doses before May 15.
Srinivasa Rao also said that the Telangana government has reached out to the Union government regarding the changes in the Co-Win platform as it does not exclusively book slots for people for the second dose, he said.