Hospitals in a tizzy as Covid vaccine supply dwindles

Bengaluru: While the State government claims there is no shortage of Covid vaccine, the scenario is different at hospitals.

Jagadish Hiremath, director at Ace Suhas Multi Speciality Hospital, said his hospital has been facing scarcity of vaccines for the past 10 days. After the government opened up vaccination for the people above 45 years the number of people getting the vaccines has increased.

"We are not receiving an adequate supply of vaccines. Though officials assure supply of 50% of what we require they fall short of their promise. In fact we are receiving 50% of the promised supply. For the past two days we have not received any vaccines at all. After the government announced everyone above age 45 can get vaccinated, the number of people visiting us for vaccination has increased. This includes factory workers too. We have run out of vaccines now, people will have to return without vaccinations if we don't receive supplies today," he told The Hans India.

With regard to the increase in the number of cases, Hiremath said the situation will be even worse compared to last year.

"We will face scarcity of beds if the cases increase at the same rate as it is now. The number will keep increasing for at least two weeks from now. Public gathering during festivals will add to the cases. Vaccination will help bring down the curve but the numbers might continue to increase for at least next two weeks," he warned.

Dr Suriraju, Chief Urologist at Regal Hospital, also confirmed that his hospital has been facing shortage of vaccinations.

"The number of cases will increase. But the severity of cases will be less. One of the reasons for the increase in the number of cases is because people are quite ignorant about the virus. People have started considering Covid a a flu and the fear is no more among the public. With the current rate at which the cases are increasing, we will face shortage of beds soon," he added.

Dr Prasanna, President of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) said that BBMP Commissioner Rakesh Singh has assured him of giving enough vaccines.

"There is no shortage anymore. I have not received any complaints in the past three days," he added.

"Karnataka crossed 50 lakh inoculations today. As on 2 p.m. today 45,13,857 people have received their first dose of vaccine and 5,02,838 have received second dose. Vaccination is being distributed in 6,173 sites across the State including 5,564 government and 609 private centres," Health Minister Dr Sudhakar K tweeted.