Coimbatore faces Covid-19 vaccine shortage amid surge in new cases

Coimbatore: The district’s Covid-19 curve continued to climb and reached a new high, with 1,566 fresh cases on Monday. It took the total number of cases to 82,689.
With 1,063 people discharged, the number of active cases crossed the 8,000-mark to reach 8,188. With 73,772 people getting cured, the recovery rate stood at 89.2%.
The district also recorded three deaths due to the virus, taking the toll to 729. The deaths included a 44-year-old man, who died three days after hospitalization and a 51-year-old man, who died after four days of hospitalization in Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Saturday due to bilateral bronchopneumonia, despite having no comorbidities. The third victim was a 72-year-old man, who died after three days of hospitalization in CMCH.
With the number of cases continuing to be on an upward trend, the dismal shortage of vaccine stocks continued to make people desperate — especially those who are due for their second dose. Vaccine stocks dropped to 2,740 on Monday, with no doses in private hospitals and 30 in the district storage unit. Smaller GHs and PHCs had 2,310 doses. At multi and single specialty hospitals in the district, including Masonic Hospital, Gem Hospital, PSG Hospitals and Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, stocks ran dry on Sunday.
After the centre allowed private hospitals to procure vaccines directly from vaccine manufacturers, some hospitals in the city that contacted Serum Institute of India (SII) directly, were advised to procure from the state government. The company reportedly told the hospitals that they are finding it challenging to meet independent requirements from a large number of private hospitals. “We urge you to access the vaccine when it becomes available in the private market supply chain channels, which will take five to six months from now,” said additional director — sales at Serum Institute, Dinesh Gundi. “We will try to shorten our timelines,” he added.
Another hospital on Race Course that contacted SII on telephone, was told that even a small batch of 4,000 to 5,000 doses would take more than a month to deliver on priority basis.
Health department officials here were also helpless. “We are besieged by calls from private hospitals, but we honestly don’t have any information on when stocks would arrive. The situation is the same across the state,” said deputy director of public health Dr G Ramesh Kumar.