Seven states see symbolic start to 3rd phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive

At least seven states on Saturday launched the third phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive covering the 18-44 age group – albeit in a symbolic way – as infections across the country crossed the four lakh new cases per day mark.

A few private hospitals such as Apollo Hospitals, Fortis Healthcare and Max Healthcare also started administering Covid-19 vaccines to beneficiaries at select centres across the country.

Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Gujarat began the vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group with the small quantity of doses they managed to procure from vaccine makers.

By the end of the day, Maharashtra had administered 11,492 doses of the vaccine in the 18-44 age group, while Chhattisgarh said it could inoculate 1,693 beneficiaries across three districts.

In Odisha, a dry run of the vaccination drive was conducted in the Bhubaneshwar area, while Goa, Jharkhand and Kerala said that the vaccination drive could not be started due to non-availability of vaccines.

Read | 1,000 people in 18-44 age group vaccinated in Mumbai on Day 1

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the vaccination drive for 18-44 age group began symbolically at one vaccination centre in Saraswati Vihar in the national capital.

He said the national capital had received 4.5 lakh doses of vaccines and the immunisation drive will begin at more centres from Monday.

Earlier, the vaccination drive covered only healthcare workers, frontline workers and those above the age of 45 who the government had identified as “priority group” for receiving vaccines.

India has managed to administer 15.5 crore doses of vaccines since the vaccination drive began on January 16. The immunisation drive has been marred by shortages with state governments accusing the Centre for failing to foresee the surge in demand and opting to import the vaccines to foreign countries.

The 15.5 crore doses imply 11.5 per cent of the total population of 138 crore have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. However, only 25 lakh people have received both the doses of the Covid-19 vaccines.