News Analysis India

Tag: 18 plus vaccination

  • Disheartening to hear some states complaining about our vaccine supply intentions: Bharat Biotech

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: It is quite disheartening to listen to some states complaining about Bharat Biotech’s intentions regarding supply of COVID vaccine Covaxin, a top company official said on Wednesday.

    In a tweet, Bharat Biotech Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella said the company has already dispatched Covaxin lots to 18 states on May 10.

    “18 states have been covered though in smaller shipments. Quite disheartening to the teams to hear some states complaining about our intentions. 50 of our employees are off work due to covid, yet we continue to work under pandemic lockdowns 24×7 for U,” she said in a tweet.

    Covaxin dispatched 10/5/21.18 states have been covered thou in smaller shipments. Quite disheartening to the teams to hear Some states complaining about our intentions. 50 of our employees are off work due to covid, yet we continue to work under pandemic lockdowns 24×7 for U pic.twitter.com/FmQl4vtqXC
    — suchitra ella (@SuchitraElla) May 11, 2021

    The Hyderabad-based firm is supplying Covaxin to 18 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi.

    Other states are Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

    Earlier in the day, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Bharat Biotech has informed the state government that it cannot provide “additional” Covaxin doses to the national capital.

    The stock of Covaxin in Delhi has finished and as a result around 100 vaccination centres set up in 17 schools have been closed, he said.

    “The Covaxin manufacturer has in a letter said that it cannot provide Delhi government vaccines due to unavailability, under instruction of concerned government official.

    It means that the central government is controlling supply of the vaccine,” Sisodia said.

    He also said the Centre should stop export of vaccines and share the vaccine formulae of the two manufacturers in the country with other companies for mass scale production.

  • COVID jabs for 18-44 age group to be delayed? Gujarat, Delhi, other states flag vaccine shortage

    By Online Desk
    The Gujarat government on Thursday said the process to vaccinate people against COVID-19 in the 18-44 age group will begin once it gets substantial number of vaccines from pharmaceutical companies, triggering speculation whether the state would miss the May 1 launch date of the inoculation drive meant for this category.

    “The state government had on April 25 placed orders of 1 crore doses of Covishield vaccines from Serum Institute of India and 50 lakh doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech,” it said.

    The state government has made all the necessary arrangements for giving vaccines to this age group free of cost, it added.

    “The vaccination process will start once the state receives substantial numbers of vaccine doses from pharma companies,” the statement said, indicating that the state has not yet received any doses directly from the pharma companies even as only two days are remaining for the launch of the drive.

    This has raised a question mark over whether the state will be able to start the vaccination drive from May 1.

    However, the registration process for vaccination of people in this age group has begun in the state.

    For this phase, the state-run and private hospitals have to directly procure vaccines from pharma companies.

    Punjab

    The vaccination drive for all above 18 years in Punjab may get delayed as the state does not have enough doses of the anti-coronavirus vaccine, its Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said on Thursday.

    “We are not getting adequate doses of vaccines. That is why we are facing problems. We have staff and required infrastructure for vaccination,” Sidhu said addressing the media here.

    Asked whether the state health authorities will be able to start the vaccination drive for the 18 plus age group from May 1, the minister said, “I feel that we may not start by that time.”

    Delhi

    Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said the city does not have sufficient doses of vaccine for the inoculation of those in the 18-44 age group and orders have been placed with manufacturers for the same.

    The minister, however, said preparations to give jabs to this category have been completed.

    “At present, we don’t have vaccines. We have requested the companies to provide it,” Jain told reporters when asked if there were enough vaccines available for the 18-44 age group.

    “We will tell you in a day or two,” he replied to another query about starting the inoculation drive for this category on May 1.

    Maharashtra

    On Wednesday, the Maharashtra government had said that it would not be able to launch the 18-45 age group vaccination drive from May 1 due to the shortage of vaccines.

    Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said the drive beginning May 1 may not be launched that day in Maharashtra due to unavailability of a sufficient vaccine doses, though the state is committed to vaccinating people in the age group of 18 to 45 years.

    “There are 5.71 crore people in the 18-45 age group in the state. They will be vaccinated free of cost, leading to an additional financial obligation of Rs 6,500 crore on the state exchequer,” said Tope.

    “We need 12 crore doses to vaccinate the remaining people in the state,” he said.

    (With PTI, ENS inputs)

  • Minor glitch, says Centre as CoWIN portal crashes after vaccine registration opens for 18-plus

    By Online Desk
    As registrations for COVID-19 vaccinations opened for the 18-45 age group at 4 pm on Wednesday, many reported the crash of the CoWIN portal and failure to receive OTPs to proceed with the process.

    As citizens including registered users faced hassles in logging in, the official Twitter account of Aarogya Setu app came up with a clarification after nearly 30 minutes.

    “Cowin Portal is working. There was a minor glitch at 4 PM that was fixed. 18 plus can register,” it said in a tweet.

    Users also pointed out that while registration process got completed, scheduling an appointment was not possible as majority of the locations still required age to be over 45.

    The same is also visible in the photo below, tweeted out by the official Twitter account of Aarogya Setu app.

    #CoWin: Minutes after registration opened for 18 plus for vaccination, the site is down.
    — GS Vasu (@gsvasu_TNIE) April 28, 2021

    Cowin Portal is working. There was a minor glitch at 4 PM that was fixed. 18 plus can register. pic.twitter.com/c94fpoURcT
    — Aarogya Setu (@SetuAarogya) April 28, 2021

    COVID-19 vaccination appointments for 18+ will be possible once states and private hospitals schedule vaccination sessions, said the government on Wednesday. 

    Slots will be opened by State Governments and Private Vaccination Centers soon
    — Aarogya Setu (@SetuAarogya) April 28, 2021

    All those aged above 18 need to register on the CoWIN portal or using the Aarogya Setu app to get vaccinated against COVID-19 starting 4 pm on Wednesday. 

    The Union Health Ministry had said that the government is gearing up to launch the third phase of the vaccination drive from 1 May. “Registration for the newly eligible category for COVID-19 vaccination opens today at 4 pm on cowin.gov.in and Aarogya Setu app,” the ministry tweeted.

    After registration, taking an appointment to get a COVID-19 vaccine jab would be mandatory for those aged between 18 and 44 years as walk-ins will not be allowed initially, officials had said.

    Those above 45 years can still avail the facility of on-site registration to get vaccinated, they said.

    (More details awaited)