Relief as 96,000 Covishield doses land in Pune district

PUNE: The state government on Wednesday allocated 96,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine to Pune district. The supply is expected to restart vaccine drives in Pimpri Chinchwad, where civic-run centres have been out of Covishield doses since Friday.
"The vaccination drive had taken a beating in PCMC and PMC areas. Wednesday's supply will re-energise the effort," said Dr Sanjog Kadam, deputy director of health services, Pune region.
Of the 96,000 doses received on Wednesday, 23,000 doses have been given to PCMC centres. Another 30,000 doses have been allocated to the PMC and the remaining - 43,000 doses - have been given to Pune rural, Dr Kadam said.
The PCMC's health officer, Dr Laxman Gophane, confirmed the allocation. "We have received 23,000 doses of Covishield. We will now be able to restart vaccination at eight sites in PCMC areas from Thursday," he said.
The PCMC was unable to hold vaccine drives on Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Dr Gophane said vaccine drives with Covaxin and Corbevax were going on uninterrupted. "But since most of the beneficiaries (over 90%) have opted for the first dose of Covishield, they'll need the shot for their second or booster jab," he said. The PMC's immunisation officer Dr Suryakant Devkar said, "We got 30,000 Covishield doses. We can now restart drives at all our 68 sites from Thursday."