Delhi restricts COVISHIELD vaccine for 2nd dose only till July 31, cites limited supply

The Government of Delhi released a statement saying, that taking into consideration the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, all supplies of the Covishield vaccine will be reserved for only those people whose second shot is due. This will be in effect till Saturday, July 31. The order was issued by the Directorate of Family Welfare and said, “both for online booking & for walk-in vaccination in the sessions being planned in Govt CVCs administering COVISHIELD vaccine will be reserved for second dose of COVISHIELD with immediate effect till July 31, 2021“.

Delhi govt will be reserving COVISHIELD vaccines for second doses only till July 31 due to shortage of vaccine supply 

As of July 21, more than 95 lakh COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Delhi, according to a statement by the Delhi health department. The statement also said that Delhi had less than one day’s vaccine stock left at the time, on Thursday, July 22. The statement by the Directorate of Family Welfare stated, “Vaccination of 18-44 cohort began on May 1, 2021, and with the completion of the 84-day interval for second dose of Covishield, many of them would now become eligible for the second dose in coming weeks". The AAP Delhi page posted the Delhi COVID Vaccination Bulletin for July 21, which showed a balance stock of 1,84,390 Covaxin doses and 1,08,300 Covishield doses. It also showed the distribution between the first and second dose, among the various demographics.

566 active COVID-19 cases in Delhi, 80% of Covaxin doses reserved for the second dosage administration due to lack of supply 

At centres run by the city government, both Covishield and Covaxin COVID-19 vaccines are being administered. For the Covaxin vaccine in Delhi, 80% of the stock is reserved for those whose second dosage is due. Delhi received 85,810 doses of Covishield on Tuesday, JUuly 20, which made the total number of doses available in Delhi to 1,08,300. On the same day, 71,997 beneficiaries were vaccinated. Out of these 29,857 were given the second dose, which made them fully vaccinated. As per the MyGov website, there are currently 566 active cases in Delhi.

(IMAGE: UNSPLASH)