Bihar: Officials rule out vaccine shortage for 45+ people

PATNA: The Covid vaccination programme in the state may be hindered temporarily following the shortage of vaccines for the people above 45 years of age.
The state health department on Thursday claimed that it had about six lakh doses available till then, but going by the statewide inoculation target of 2.5 lakh doses per day, the state needs replenishment of vaccine stock at the earliest.
State immunization officer N K Sinha admitted the scarcity of vaccines for the 45+ age group, but said the present stock will continue for a day or two. He pointed out that the fresh stock of vaccines may arrive on Saturday night or Sunday. Earlier, the state had received the vaccines for the 45+ people from May 1 to 15. “The fresh stock is on way,” he said.
He further said there was no dearth of vaccines for the 18-44 years age group and it would continue without any hindrance.
Patna district immunization officer Vinayak, however, asserted that there was no dearth of vaccines for the people even above 45. He has received 60,000 doses of vaccines on Friday and this stock will last for five to six days and the fresh stock of vaccines is likely to arrive in two to three days, he said.
Health minister Mangal Pandey also claimed that there was no shortage of vaccines in the state and that the vaccination for the people of all ages would continue uninterrupted. He said while the state is purchasing vaccines for 18-44 age group, it is getting it free from the Centre for 45+ people. The state has been receiving sufficient doses of vaccines from the Centre regularly, the minister added.
Meanwhile, recent announcement regarding enhancement of gap between two doses of Covishield vaccines from 8-12 to 12-16 weeks has provided some relief to the states facing shortage of vaccines, notwithstanding some apprehensions about their efficacy. Health experts have, however, countered the people’s apprehensions. “The interval between two does of vaccines has been increased only after successful trials. There is no adverse impact on the people’s health by taking the second shot at the interval suggested by the new health guidelines,” said PMCH’s former superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad.
Noted pediatrician Dr Arun Shah pointed out that the manufacturer of Covishield vaccines, the Serum Institute of India, conducted successive trials after giving both the shots at an interval of four, eight and 12 weeks and found that maximum antibodies were formed (more than 90%) in 12 weeks. He said when the interval between the two successive doses increases, the efficacy of vaccines also increases.
The second dose, in fact, serves as the booster dose and it is always given after a long interval (as seen in cases of general immunization earlier), he said. He further pointed out that the interval between two doses of Covaxin remains a month till date as sufficient antibodies are formed during the time, Dr Shah added.