For 1.32cr in 18-44 yrs age group, Punjab manages 5.43 lakh doses

Chandigarh: Home to about 1.32 crore population in the age group of 18-44 years, the Punjab government has so far managed to get only 5.43 lakh doses of vaccines for Phase-III of the ongoing Covid immunisation drive. The state needs around 2.64 crore doses of vaccine to fully vaccinate the entire population of this age group as per the prescribed protocol.
Punjab is among the states which were late to start the process of immunising beneficiaries of this age group due to non-availability of the vaccines. After much delay, the state government on May 14 kick-started the much-awaited drive by vaccinating families of healthcare workers in both government and private sectors, as well as those suffering from co-morbidities.
Of 4.29 lakh doses of Covishield procured by the state government as per the allocation done by the central government, 4.25 lakh have been used and only 3,560 are left as of June 2. Similarly, out of 1.14 lakh doses of Covaxin, only 68,640 are left.
So far, 4,72,869 beneficiaries of the age group have received their first dose. With 1,17,280 getting their first dose, Ludhiana leads the tally of immunisation in the age group followed by Patiala, the home district of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, where 61,328 have been inoculated, 40,103 in Jalandhar, 39,953 in Hoshiarpur and 29,327 in Gurdaspur.
The shortage of vaccine has taken a toll on the daily immunisation target. According to data of the health department, against the average daily target of 2,28,571, Punjab managed to vaccinate 57,496 (25%) people on average per day from April 20 to May 31.
To overcome the shortage of vaccine, the state government even made attempt to procure vaccines directly from manufacturers. Pfizer and Modern refused to sell vaccines directly to the state government as they only deal with the Government of India. The situation is not likely to improve in the coming weeks as the state is likely to continue getting low allocation.
Punjab’s nodal officer for vaccination Vikas Garg said the state government had been asking for immediate allocation of the required number of vaccine dose for the 18-44 age group.
“As per the communication received, we are expected to get about 18,000 doses on June 8 and 1.17 lakh on June 11,” he said.
In all, 51,44,133 doses have been administered in different groups till June 2. Of the total, 10,36,251 doses have been given to frontline workers, 3,09,758 to healthcare workers and 33,25,255 in the age group of 45 and above. Out of every 100, 2.6 have been fully vaccinated and 14.5 have received first their first dose.