Amid good response from 18+, Patiala district falls short of vaccine

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 17

Amid enthusiasm among 18 to 45 years beneficiaries to get inoculated, Patiala district is running short on Covid vaccines. The Health Department was left with only 600 shots of vaccine today.

The Health Department said they had not received due supply of vaccines from the state. So, they would be administering only remaining doses tomorrow, the department added.

Owing to limited stock, vaccine would be administered to beneficiaries at only at two sites tomorrow, including Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital and Government Senior Secondary School, Model Town, in the city.

Meantime, it has been learnt that beneficiaries, above 45 years, would not be administered vaccine for the next few days. Reason is insufficient supply of vaccine for this group. Vaccine for above 45 years group comes from the Central Government pool.

The Patiala Civil Surgeon, Dr Satinder Singh, said he was in constant touch with the higher authorities for the supply of vaccines. “As soon as we get the supply, we will restart our routine vaccination. The response for the Covid vaccination is overwhelming,” he added.

Meanwhile, the District Immunisation Officer (DIO), Dr Veenu Goyal, said around 8,617 beneficiaries were vaccinated today. With this development, Patiala’s vaccination count had touched 2,88,203. The response to vaccination drive from 18 to 44 years age group was good, Dr Goyal added.

220 vaccinated at District Courts Complex

The District Legal Services Authority in collaboration with the Health Department organised a second vaccination camp at the District Courts Complex here today. District and Sessions Judge Rajinder Agarwal said 220 judicial officers, lawyers’, staff and paralegal volunteers were administered second dose of the vaccine to protect them from coronavirus.

Vaccine was essential to beat Covid pandemic, he added. At a time, when cases of coronavirus were on the rise in the country and precious lives were being lost, vaccination was the only cure, he said. He directed the staff to ensure social distancing, wear face masks and sanitise hands regularly as per the government guidelines to control the pandemic.