Poor supply hits vax drive, no plans for doorstep dose in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: With just 81,361 persons getting vaccinated on Thursday, the Covid vaccination drive in the state is moving at a very slow pace. The supply of vaccines to the state has also gone down drastically with just 2 lakh doses of vaccines coming in a single lot.
“We have received just 2 lakh doses of vaccines on Thursday. The lots arrive at an interval of 2-3 days. Initially (when the vaccination drive started in the state), we even received 10-12 lakh doses of vaccines per day. The situation will improve by June if the companies increase their production of vaccines,” said a government official.
“The single lot of vaccines that we receive gets over in one or two days,” he added. However, the state government is not considering door-to-door vaccination of citizens as of now. “As per the guidelines of the Centre, door-to-door vaccination is not permitted,” said the official.
Another official said, “18 lakh doses of vaccines have been received in the month of May so far. We have made payments to the government of India and the companies for the procurement of more vaccines. The Centre decides the quota for the distribution of vaccines in the states. But we are also waiting for the vaccines to arrive.”
Meanwhile, Thursday was the last day for submitting bids for global tender to procure vaccines from international manufacturers. The manufacturers of AstraZeneca (UK) and Sputnik V (Russia) vaccines had evinced interest to participate in the global tender process to sell their vaccines to Rajasthan.
Action against14 shops
On Thursday, the legal metrology department inspected 18 medical stores and 25 grocery stores during a campaign to prevent activities like blackmarketing and profiteering. During the inspection, cases were registered against 14 shopkeepers and a total penalty of Rs 55,000 was imposed.