Vaccine to be free in Chandigarh, 30,000 doses likely by May 15

CHANDIGARH: The UT is expected to get its consignment of 30,000 vaccine doses for 18 years and above by May 15. UT adviser Manoj Parida on Tuesday announced that the vaccine will be administered free of cost. District immunisation officer Dr Manjit Singh said they have already paid the Serum Institute of India (SII) for 30,000 doses of Covishield vaccine. “It is expected by May 15. As we cannot divert vaccines from the existing quota of priority groups of 45 years and above, we will not start the drive till the doses are received.”
On the other hand, both Panchkula and Mohali have started vaccination for 18 years and above. A public health expert said, “Many come to UT from Mohali and Panchkula for work and other essential services. We need to treat the Tricity as a single unit. If the satellite towns have started coverage for this group, Chandigarh should also begin soon to make the drive beneficial.”
Sources in the health department said initially the department had asked for one lakh doses, but due to the high demand for vaccines throughout the country, it was reduced to 30,000. “We know out of around three lakh beneficiaries, not more than one lakh will come for vaccination. We can meet the demand of 15,000 beneficiaries and by the time we immunise them, we will get the next consignment as well,” said an official in the UT health department.
To date, over two lakh beneficiaries have received the jabs in the city. “In Panchkula, there had been times when not a single site was operational. But we are consistently running our 49 sites throughout the week without any day off,” said the DIO.