New Delhi: The Delhi government on Thursday (July 22) announced it will reserve all Covishield vaccine slots at government vaccination centres for administering only second dose till July 31. The action has been taken in view of limited vaccine supply in the national capital, the government said.
The order issued by the Directorate of Family Welfare mentioned that the 18-44 age group, who began receiving the vaccination in May, are due to become eligible for the second shot.
“Vaccination of 18-44 cohort began on May 1, 2021 and with the completion of the 84-day interval for second dose of Covishield, many of them would now become eligible for the second dose in coming weeks. In view of the limited supply of vaccine, all slots, both for online booking and for walk-in vaccination in the sessions being planned in Govt CVCs administering COVISHIELD vaccine will be reserved for second dose of COVISHIELD with immediate effect till 31 July 2021,” PTI quoted the Delhi government order as saying.
According to a vaccination bulletin issued by the city health department on Wednesday, Delhi had less than a day's stock of vaccine doses left on Wednesday morning after it administered over 71,000 doses a day earlier.
On Tuesday, the national capital had received 85,810 doses of Covishield, which took the total number of doses available in Delhi to 1,08,300.
The total number of Covaxin doses available with Delhi stands at 1,84,390. Only 20 per cent of Covaxin stock can be used for the first dose, since its stock is limited and its delivery cycles irregular, the news agency reported.
Over 95 lakh Covid vaccine doses have been administered in the national capital till July 21, out of which a total of 71,997 beneficiaries were vaccinated on Tuesday, including 29,857 who were inoculated with the second dose, the vaccination bulletin revealed.
(With agency inputs)
