10 per vial but IGMC administers 11.5 doses

Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 24

Going by the concept of zero wastage, the IGMC Shimla is administering average 11.5 doses against 10 doses per vial in the 18 – 44 age group and till now 345 persons have been vaccinated against 300.

“Our motto is ‘one dose is equal to one life’ and as many as 106, 125 and 114 beneficiaries were vaccinated against 100 on May 17, 20 and 24 respectively, said IGMC nodal officer for vaccination, Dr Saad Rizvi.

“As per the government guidelines one vial has 10 doses (0.5 ml of dose has been prescribed for one person) but the quantity is more than 10 doses which is utilized by our staff and health workers who have experience of working in immunization programmes for decades,” he said.

“About 70 per cent of those registered for vaccination reach by 11:30 am. After that our teams start calling individuals. Later the district administration is informed about the number of slots (doses) available. Then slots are again opened for registered beneficiaries and additional people come for vaccination and there is no wastage. The session goes on till the last dose is utilized,” Dr Rizvi said.

Initially, people were apprehensive about getting vaccinated due to the fear of side effects. “We urge people to come for vaccination as this is the only way to defeat Covid,” he added.

“People generally ask which vaccine is better and I would like to make it clear that the government would not launch any vaccine unless it is totally safe. Therefore, take whatever vaccine is available,” he said.