CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, Aug 26: As the cases of Covid has gone down in the last 10 days in Ranchi, the vaccination centres across the city are facing a shortage of Covovax vaccine.
Many parents who have vaccinated their children with the first dose of Covovax are now being informed by private vaccination centres that the vaccine is not available now. Moreover, there is no information about when it will be available.
As per sources, the Covovax vaccine is only available in private vaccination centres and not in government vaccination centres. Significantly, the Ministry of Health has permitted to give the Covovax vaccine prepared by Serum Institute to children aged 12 to 17 years.
Experts said that as soon as the Ministry of Health permitted to provide the vaccine, it was made available to many private vaccination centres in the state.
Moreover, the Health Department says that the central government had made it clear at the time of giving permission for the vaccine that all the private immunization centres that will provide the vaccine of Covovax will have to provide both doses. Legal action can also be taken if the order has been ignored by private vaccination centres.
Notably, Around 46% of the population between the age group 12-14 has been vaccinated with the first dose whereas only 21% have received the second dose, as per the government data of August 25.
