JOIN USShortage of supply impacts Assam's Covid-19 vaccination target
Shortage in supply has hindered the Assam government's target to vaccinate at least one lakh population daily, at a time that the state was grappling with a spurt in Covid-19 cases and deaths.
The state government last month had placed orders for two crore vaccines: one crore each from Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute, soon after the Centre allowed the states to procure the same in order to vaccinate people aged between 18 to 44 years. "Shortage of vaccine supply by the two organisations has become a problem. We wanted to carry out one lakh vaccinations daily, but we are unable to meet our target due to shortage in supplies. But we hope to get more vaccines soon," Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Guwahati on Sunday.
Sources in the health department said the state at present had only 1.5 lakh vaccines and the drive could come to a standstill if new consignment did not reach the state on time. The state was vaccinating nearly 50,000 people daily.
The state has so far vaccinated 34,00,834 persons out of its population of three crores. Of these, 26,69,444 received the first dose while 7,31,390 got the second dose.
Although many people aged 18 to 44 years registered themselves online for vaccination, they were still waiting for an appointment due to shortage in vaccine supply.
Assam at present has 43,377 active Covid-19 cases, most of whom are in home isolation. But more deaths now compared to the first wave has become a concern for the health department. The state has reported over 1,100 deaths in the second wave so far.
On Sunday, the state reported 3,650 new active cases, which was 8.51 per cent of the 42,884 tests. The state reported 56 deaths from 18 of 33 districts on Sunday. The state has been reporting an average 5,000 new cases and 50 deaths daily since May 5.
Kamrup Metro (Guwahati), Cachar, Dibrugarh and Kamrup districts reported the maximum number of cases.