KOLKATA: In an attempt to clear the second dose backlog for both Covishield and Covaxin, and streamline the vaccination process for first-dose recipients, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Friday decided to keep its vaccination clinics and mega centres open for recipients of first and second doses on alternate days. This rule will come into effect from Monday.
Under the new rule, second-dose recipients will be able to receive their shots at the 144 KMC-run vaccination clinics and over 50 mega centres on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and first-dose recipients will get their shots on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
According to a KMC health official, the civic brass had to change the rule after witnessing anomalies in the current system which were partly responsible for a growth in second-dose backlog.
“We have detected loopholes in the existing system at our clinics and mega centres where we were vaccinating recipients of both doses six days a week. At a point, the system led to a huge backlog of second dose. Then we decided to introduce two separate shifts, but that did not solve the problem. So we decided to change the rule,” a KMC health department official said.
According to a KMC medical officer who has been assigned to run a vaccination clinic in Tollygunge, the new rule will also benefit those who have been waiting for their first dose. “If we receive a normal supply of vaccines, we will be able to administer shots to younger people who have been queuing up at our clinics but are often refused,” the civic official said.
Besides streamlining the vaccination process, the new rule will also enable the KMC medical officers to run other routine investigations at the civic body’s urban primary health centres, which have been converted into temporary vaccination units.
“After handling the pressure of vaccination since morning, our medical and para-medical staffers at the primary health centres were not able to offer citizens other crucial investigations, which include tests for malaria and dengue, immunization or routine check-ups. The new system will offer us some time to concentrate on these,” an official said.
