In Panchkula, jab shortage hits vaccination campaign

Amit Bathla

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, April 22

The vaccination drive in the district was affected owing to shortage of vaccines today.

Several vaccination centres, including the Sector 20 Civil Dispensary, saw chaos with several citizens claiming that despite waiting for a long time, they did not get the jab. These centres subsequently had to be closed early.

Vinod Sarin, a local resident who came to take the vaccine at the Civil Hospital, said, “I have been waiting for almost 45 minutes. Officials have told us that new stock will arrive in an hour or so.” At the same centre, Basanti, an elderly woman had to go through the same ordeal. After waiting for over 45 minutes, she said, “We have no clue when the vaccine will arrive.”

A doctor at the Sector 20 dispensary said they had to shut the centre by 12.30 pm due to the shortage of vaccine.

The issue is prevalent in the whole district as conveyed by senior officials, she said, adding that she had been told that new stock would arrive from Kurukshetra soon.

According to the Health Department, as many as 2,443 eligible people were vaccinated today. Over 1.25 lakh doses of the Covid vaccine have been administered in the district so far.

District Immunisation Officer Dr Meenu Sasan said they ran out of the vaccine stock due to the delay in arrival of their shipment. “The stock available in the field was distributed among beneficiaries till it lasted. The vaccine distribution will normalise tomorrow,” she added.