Bhubaneswar: Shortage of vaccines in Odisha might cause a delay in starting the much-awaited phase III of mega vaccination drive which covers beneficiaries above 18 years and scheduled to be started from May 1.
Director of Health & Family Welfare, Bijay Panigrahi informed this Tuesday.
Informing about the possibility of phase III vaccination drive missing its deadline, Panigrahi said the state does not have enough stocks of Covishield and Covaxin stocks to start the drive.
According to the director, the state has a stock of 1.23 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 3.65 lakh doses of Covaxin. While the Covishield stock will last for one day, the Covaxin stock will go maximum four weeks.
Meanwhile, the state government has already placed order for 387.34 lakh doses of vaccines-377 lakh doses of Covishield and 10.34 lakh doses of Covaxin.
“The registration for the mega vaccination drive will begin from tomorrow. The beneficiaries can register by visiting the dedicated portal. But the vaccination drive may take some time to start. As soon as vaccines are received, slot bookings and vaccination dates will be announced,” he added.
Notably, the state government April 25 announced that the beneficiaries above the age of 18 will receive the jabs free of cost.
PNN