COVID: Phase-3 vaccine drive to begin in 6 states on May 1; others defer due to 'shortage'

The liberalized third phase of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive begins on Saturday, May 1. Under this phase, all adults will be able to get vaccinated against the virus. Prior to this, only those above 45 years, frontline and healthcare workers were eligible to register for vaccination. However, due to shortage of doses, majority of the states have deferred launching the third phase of the drive and said that the 18 to 44 age group will be inoculated after they procure sufficient vaccines.

Only six states will be able to roll out the vaccine drive for the younger age group from Saturday. These include: Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. In most of these states, vaccination will be limited to just a few districts. 

States/UTs that deferred phase 3 of the vaccination drive

Delhi

Delhi will not launch its vaccine drive for those between 18-44 years from Saturday as the city has not received enough doses, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday. The government will formally announce a date of launch for the mega vaccination drive.

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh may take up to three-four weeks to start the COVID-19 vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group, Special Health Secretary Nipun Jindal said.  The vaccination will not start till the supplies of the vaccines is received, he said. 

West Bengal

The COVID-19 vaccination drive for people in the 18-44 age group will not begin in West Bengal from Saturday due to paucity of doses, a senior official of the state's health department said. The ongoing inoculation process for those above the age of 44 will, however, continue at different medical facilities depending on the availability of vaccines

Goa

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has indicated that the vaccination drive for those aged between 18 to 45 will not be rolled out in the state from May 1 onwards. Revealing that Goa had not received any doses for this purpose, he assured that the new phase of inoculation will commence as soon as the vaccine stock is acquired. 

Punjab

The Punjab government has also indicated that it could not start the vaccination process for the 18+ population from May 1 as the state is facing a shortage of doses. The Congress government in the state has also written to SII for vaccine doses to start vaccination in time but has not received a response yet.

Arunachal Pradesh

The Arunachal Pradesh government has deferred the roll-out of the COVID-19 inoculation drive for those in the 18-44 years age group from May 1, as the state is facing some "technical" issues.

Tamil Nadu

Due to the uncertainty over the supply of COVID-19 vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin, the Tamil Nadu government deferred its rollout of the massive vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group on May 1 as originally planned.

Telangana

Though the Telangana government is in touch with the vaccine manufacturers, there is no certainty on when the stocks would be available for mass vaccination. "There are no possibilities (of vaccination for the younger age group,” said Telangana Public Health Director G Srinivasa Rao

J&K

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday said vaccination of people belonging to the 18-44 age group will not begin on May 1 as scheduled. The government said that it will begin from a date to be announced later once the vaccine supply is regulated.

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh too expressed its inability to implement the third phase of inoculation due to a shortage of vaccine doses. Anil Kumar Singhal, principal secretary (medical and health) said the state needs four crore vaccines to vaccinate two crore people (two doses) in the 18-44 years age group.

Kerala

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state can't decide anything on its own when there is a shortage. "It has become difficult to decide on vaccination," he said, apparently hinting the inoculation drive may not take off on Saturday.

Karnataka

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said the inoculation drive for people in the 18+ age group will be delayed as the vaccine has not been supplied yet. "Our Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar has said clearly that the vaccine has not been supplied yet. We will vaccinate people once it arrives," he told reporters.

Puducherry

In the union territory of Puducherry, the plan to vaccinate those in the said age group, scheduled for May 1, has also been shelved for now. A spokesman of the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services said that the consignment of vaccines needed for the programme has not arrived and hence the programme is delayed.

Madhya Pradesh

The vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group would not start on May 1 in Madhya Pradesh as the manufacturers cannot supply enough vaccine doses in time, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said. “Hopefully, we will be getting vaccine doses around May 3. After that we will give the final shape to the drive for the young people,” he added.

States that start vaccination today

Maharashtra (symbolically)

Marking a 'ceremonial' start of the vaccination, Maharashtra Health minister Rajesh Tope said that the state would 'inaugurate the drive on a nominal basis on Saturday. This move has been done as per CM Uddhav Thackeray's wishes to start that the vaccination drive on the occasion of 'Maharashtra day' - May 1. The state has already expressed its inability to start vaccinating adults due to the non-availability of vaccines.

Gujarat

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani assured that the COVID-19 vaccination drive for those aged above 18 will commence in the state from May 1 itself. However, this will be limited to 10 districts most affected by COVID-19 and shall be expanded to the rest of Gujarat depending on the availability of novel coronavirus vaccines.  Incidentally, Saturday is set to be celebrated as Gujarat Foundation Day for the state formed on May 1, 1960. 

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh on Friday announced that the state will begin vaccination in seven districts - Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Bareilly from today. These districts are those that have more than 9000 active cases, informed Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary Health Amit Mohan Prasad. 

Odisha

The Odisha government on Friday night said that it will symbolically start the COVID-19 inoculation drive for the people in the age group of 18 to 44 years on May 1 only in Bhubaneswar as it is the first day of the weekend urban area lockdown across the state. The state's decision of not starting the inoculation drive changed after it received 1.5 lakh doses of Covaxin at 9 pm, as the first consignment of the states owns procurement for the third phase of vaccination.

Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh government will roll out the vaccine drive from May 1, but will prioritise Antyodaya cardholders and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups. The state was expecting to receive 1,5 lakh doses of Covaxin on Saturday afternoon. The drive will continue to progress as vaccines arrive. 

Rajasthan

Rajasthan will start the vaccine drive in only three of the 33 districts - Ajmer, Jaipur, Jodhpur and was expecting 3 lakh doses by Friday midnight. CM Vijay Rupani announced that vaccination for the younger age group will start in 10 districts that have the highest caseload. 

(With inputs from agency)