Vaccine paucity: Several districts halt inoculation for 18+ age group in Bihar

PATNA: Inoculation of people in the age group of 18-44 years remained suspended in Patna and several other districts for the third consecutive day on Saturday due to non-availability of vaccines. The inoculation drive for this age group would not be conducted even on Sunday.
Patna DM Chandrashekhar Singh said the vaccination drive for 18+ had been temporarily suspended due to shortage of vaccine doses. “The vaccination for this age group was last conducted on May 26. We had received 50,000 vaccine doses last Sunday, which was administered on beneficiaries for three days starting from Monday. We have no vaccine left for 18-plus age group now,” the DM said.
He added, “The vaccination drive will resume only when we get the fresh stock of vaccines from the health department. For 45+ people, the vaccination is being carried out smoothly as we have enough doses for them.”
So far, 1.04 lakh people in the age group of 18-44 years have received their first jab at 54 selected sites in Patna. The DM said the district has the capacity to inoculate 20,000 people in 18+ age group per day.
On Saturday, only 10,347 beneficiaries were administered the anti-Covid vaccines in the state in the 18-44 age group. So far, 15,95,096 people have taken the first jab of vaccine in Bihar, as per the data shared by the health department
Even though the vaccination drive for 18+ have been hampered, Bihar was among the top three states in the country with the highest number of vaccines administered to people in this age group in the third phase on inoculation.
The non-availability of vaccines is making people jittery. Saroj Kumar (36), a resident of Jakkanpura, said it was the fourth day that he returned from the designated centre without getting the vaccine jab.
One Soumya Singh said she was turned away from the vaccine centre due to vaccine shortage. “I got the slot about a week ago. However, the vaccine centre was busy in clearing the backlog,” she said.
Prashant Jain, a resident of Hanuman Nagar, said he was regretting that he did not book the slot earlier when vaccines were available.