Odisha: 11 districts run dry, 66% sites closed sans vaccine

BHUBANESWAR: AMID the strong second wave, the Covid vaccination continued to remain affected in Odisha with as many as 11 districts going without administering a single jab the whole day on Tuesday.Health department sources said over 66 per cent session sites were closed in the State. Vaccination was conducted only at 495 centres of the 1,476 centres and a mere 66,787 doses were administered against the target of over 2.5 lakh. 

The districts where vaccination came to a complete halt included Sambalpur, Puri, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Nayagarh, Boudh, Gajapati, Dhenkanal, Koraput, Jharsuguda and Sonepur. Apart from the districts, only one centre each was open in Balangir and Kendrapara, two each in Jagatsinghpur and Keonjhar, three in Balasore, five in Deogarh, six each in Nabarangpur and Rayagada and seven in Kandhamal.  

Even as both the Centre and State governments have been stressing on vaccination in the affected districts, no inoculation session could be conducted in at least four such districts including Jharsuguda and Koraput which share border with worst hit Chhattisgarh. The State has received two lakh doses of Covaxin on Tuesday. But, it will cater to the needs of beneficiaries in only Bhubaneswar as it is exclusively used in the Capital city, while Covishield is supplied to rest of the State.  

Health officials said more than 15 districts, which have been facing acute shortage of vaccine, will be forced to stop the drive on Wednesday. The 2.71 lakh doses of Covishield, received on Monday, have been dispatched to the districts, which had earlier run dry. Director (Family Welfare) Dr Bijay Panigrahi said the health administration has been facing difficulties in planning vaccination sessions due to non-availability of required quantity of vaccines. 

“Odisha should not be dealt on par with other states. The wastage is very negligible here and we are one of the top-10 states as far as vaccine usage is concerned,” he said. Additional Chief Secretary of Health PK Mohapatra said the State government is in constant touch with the Union Health Ministry for allotment of vaccine. “We have urged them to supply more Covishield doses as it is the only vaccine approved for the entire State,” he said.  The State has 2.39 lakh doses of Covishield and 2.55 lakh doses of Covaxin in stock. So far 45,85,049 doses have been administered.