Want second dose of Covishield? Bring more beneficiaries or wait

Nagpur: Although the demand for second dose of Covid vaccination has fallen drastically, a handful few who turn up at government centres are asked to endlessly wait for enough beneficiaries to gather so that the number adds up to at least 5-10.
Covishield doses are not available while a few Covaxin vials are available at some centers. Whenever a centre gets a query or a sizeable beneficiary number, the vials are transferred there.
On Tuesday, TOI visited some centres in North Nagpur where a couple of beneficiaries were asked to wait for sometime. Some beneficiaries insisted on Covishield but were told that the vials were not available and it was not clear when they would be made available.
Deputy director of health services (Nagpur circle) Dr Vinita Jain and civil surgeon didn’t answer to TOI’s calls.
NMC officials said Covishield is in short supply and only those requiring second dose face problems. “We try to arrange in case more beneficiaries gather for Covishield. We don’t have much of Covaxin demand for second dose. The number of Covaxin beneficiaries is low as compared to Covishield,” they said.
The officials added that they haven’t raised a demand for Covishield yet as a new policy is expected after September 30. “We need to see what guidelines are issued by the government for the programme after this month. It is just now a matter of two days,” they said.
Only Corbevax is available as booster at all government vaccination centres now.
The number of people taking Covid vaccination has fallen to around 1,000 per day in the district. Recently, the NMC received around 10,000 doses of Corbevax from Wardha assuming it will suffice for the next 15 days. Among the 1,000 daily vaccination, maximum are taken as booster. The vaccine is also utilised for kids’ vaccination.
Before falling to this low, the daily vaccination had been around 12,000 per day in the district. Last year, the figure touched 50,000 and average was around 30,000 when Covid cases were high.
Yet, even during that period, there have been occasions when beneficiaries were either sent back or asked to wait to open vials.