Kolkata: A doctor in a hospital in West Bengal has claimed that Covid vaccine manufacturers have said the will not be able to provide vaccines until June as the state government and private hospitals look to begin Phase 3 of the vaccination drive from May 1st across the country.
The doctor’s statement came a day ahead of the nationwide launch of Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccination.
“This time vaccine supply will not be (given) by the government but we have been asked to write to manufacturers directly and we have written to Bharat Biotech and SII for vaccines,” Dr Rupali Basu, the managing director and chief executive officer of Kolkata’s Woodlands Hospital, told news agency ANI on Friday. She added, “They (vaccine manufacturers) have written to us that they won’t be able to supply us vaccines till June, so we still don’t have the vaccines with us. We’re ready with vaccination centres but the moment the vaccines come to us we’ll able to vaccinate.”
Basu said May 1st is a holiday in West Bengal and the following day is the result day for assembly elections while May 3 and 4 are also not vaccination days. “... Our vaccination starts on May 5, so I have four more days. I hope that I will be starting vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group May 5 onwards," she told ANI on Friday.
Post election Covid spike
Experts have attributed the tremendous spike in Covid-19 cases to mass gatherings that took place in the state as political parties held election campaign rallies and roadshows despite the emergence of the second wave of the pandemic that has taken the country’s death toll beyond 208,000 amid stretched health infrastructure. Acccording to the bulletin provided by the health department on Friday the state recorded single spike of 17,411 new cases.
Other states have similar woes
West Bengal is not alone as many states face a shortage of supply in Covid vaccines and decided to delay the vaccination drive for 18-44 age group, this includes the national capital Delhi and the worst hit state Maharashtra.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the people of Delhi not to queue up outside vaccination centres as the national capital is experiencing a shortage of vaccines. Kejriwal said that Delhi will not be commencing the third phase of vaccination which was to begin on Saturday to inoculate people of 18-44 yrs of age. Arvind Kejriwal also informed that the capital is likely to receive a huge stock of Covishield vaccine in the next 2 days after which it will begin the drive to vaccine all the adults.