Despite 18-44 headstart, fewer vax doses daily in May than April

Gurgaon: Though Haryana is in the pack of seven states that account for the bulk of vaccinations in India among the 18-44 population, the state’s daily average in May (1-17) of vaccine shots administered has fallen conspicuously to 67,082 doses from the April average of 74,055.
The effective slide is much bigger for the 45+ population. That’s because, unlike April, the May numbers include the 18-44 age group that became eligible for inoculations this month. In May, vaccines administered to the 45+ population averaged only around 39,000 daily (28,271 shots per day went to the 18-44 group), which is a steep drop from April when most doses were being given to the 45+, barring a small fraction of frontline and healthcare workers.
The vaccination numbers in Gurgaon, which accounts for 12% of all vaccine doses administered in Haryana, mirror the state trend, falling to 6,769 in May from 8,988 in April. And, for the 45+, to just 3,657 shots on an average per day. As a result, rush has increased and vaccination slots in May have been hard to come by, triggering widespread anxiety among recipients about the second dose, particularly for those inoculated with Covaxin. That’s why the health department’s decision to hold drive-in vaccination sessions for second dose recipients was welcomed and saw huge turnouts.
Till May 17, Haryana had administered around 49.53 lakh vaccine doses. Of these, nearly 39.9 lakh people have so far only received their first dose. State officials said 4.2% of the population is now fully vaccinated while 16.4% have received at least one dose. This is, however, based on 2011 Census data on population, which is likely to have grown significantly, especially in the NCR districts, in the last 10 years.
In Gurgaon, 5.94 lakh doses were administered till May 17. The number of first dose recipients is around 4.6 lakh. This is based on 2011 Census figures, which takes the population to be 15.1 lakh, 9% of the city’s residents are fully vaccinated. Officials said the health department has carried a population survey and it has projected population data but it is not yet using that as a yardstick.
In the 18-44 age category, Haryana administered 4.8 lakh doses in the first 17 days of May. In Gurgaon, the number of doses given in the same age group over the same period was only 52,915. There has been a shortage of vaccines at government session sites through this month, leading to vaccinations being halted on occasions because the health department ran out of doses. Vaccinations for the 18-44 age group are being done using vaccines ordered by the state directly from the manufacturers – Serum Institute for Covishield and Bharat Biotech for Covaxin.
State immunisation officer Dr Virender Ahlawat told TOI, “The pace had been very encouraging till the end of April. We are facing hurdles because of irregular supply of vaccines this month. We are hopeful that we will get more vaccines by June-end and thus we can again vaccinate aggressively.”
Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer (Gurgaon), said the health department was prepared to ramp up inoculations if adequate vaccine doses became available. “Our pace has been slow this month as there are limited vaccines available with us. In case we get adequate vaccines, then we aim to carry out more than 20,000 vaccinations per day. We have also identified schools and community centres where we plan to aggressively vaccinate people once supply becomes smooth,” he said.