Wait for Covaxin ends in Chittoor

Tirupati: Finally, the long wait for Covaxin second dose has come to an end in Chittoor district with the arrival of 21,500 doses of the Covid vaccine. The officials have made elaborate arrangements to administer it as only a second dose to those who took their first shot before April 12.

To avoid unwanted rush and confusion at the vaccination centres, the beneficiaries were given advance tokens indicating the date, time and place of vaccination. About 33 session sites were set up across the district to enable smooth vaccination process.

About 1.14 lakh people were given Covaxin first dose in the district out of which only 14,000 got their second dose. Many of the remaining people have completed the 4-6 weeks gap after their first dose and were desperately looking for the second dose.

Following the hype created in favour of Covaxin, several people have gone to private hospitals also to take their doses on payment basis.

Later, with the shortage in supply of Covaxin and even Covishield, vaccination at private hospitals was stopped.

With the increasing pressure for the second dose, the officials have stopped giving Covaxin as the first dose already. Yet, the huge gap between the demand for second dose and the supply of Covaxin, thousands of people have been waiting continuously. When around 6,000 doses of Covaxin were administered on May 8, people thronged the vaccination centres but had to return only with disappointment.

District Immunisation Officer Dr C Hanumantha Rao said they have made fool-proof arrangements to administer more than 21,000 doses on Wednesday. A total of 9,377 people were vaccinated with their second doses on Tuesday.

In Tirupati, five centres were set up to vaccinate people out of which TTD central hospital was meant for TTD employees only. Commissioner PS Girisha and Health Officer Dr DT Sudha Rani monitored the arrangements.