Covid vaccination in Kerala hit due to supply shortage

Health Minister Veena George said that vaccination at many districts came to a halt as the stock supplied by the Centre was almost over

Beneficiaries wait to receive a dose of Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Kochi. Credit: PTI file photo

Covid vaccination in Kerala has been affected owing to shortage of vaccines.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George said that vaccination at many districts came to a halt as the entire stock supplied by the Centre was almost over. While the Centre so far supplied 1.66 doses, the state could administer 1.86 crore doses. The state has been repeatedly urging the Centre to ensure proper vaccine supply, she said.

The state had earlier achieved over-utilisation by ensuring zero wastage and thereby making use of the excess vaccine contained in each vial. Kerala had even set a record of administering 4.5 lakh vaccines on Saturday.

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Kerala is lamenting over short supply of vaccine close on the heels of the Centre, maintaining that about 10 lakh dose vaccines were remaining unused in Kerala. This had triggered a blame game between the left-front government in Kerala and BJP government at the Centre.

Meanwhile, Covid TPR of Kerala witnessed a slight decline on Monday. The TPR of the 1.09 lakh tests done in the last 24 hours was 10.59 per cent.

Kasargod and Kannur districts have made Covid test mandatory for getting vaccination. The decision was learnt to be aimed at bringing down TPR.

The health minister said that Kasargod and Wayanad districts already achieved the targets for vaccinating persons above the age of 45.

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