KOLKATA: There has been a sudden drop in demand for Covishield second doses, but the Kolkata Municipal Corporation health department has decided to keep ready a buffer stock for second-dose recipients. The demand is expected to rise from next week, when the second-dose schedule for recipients in the 18-44 age group is likely to come up.
After witnessing a low turnout of recipients of second doses following the introduction of the new vaccination schedule from Monday, the KMC health department senior officials on Wednesday decided to keep aside a significant portion of Covishield second doses at vaccination clinics and mega centres, where the demand is expected to rise from next week. Most of recipients in the 18-plus age group will be scheduled for their second shots around that time
“Based on the feedback from the KMC vaccination clinics at the ward levels and from mega centres, we have taken a conscious decision to keep a portion of the stock reserved for second-dose recipients, demand from whom is expected to rise from next week,” said a KMC health department official. At the same time, the civic body has decided to experiment with the vaccination schedule afresh, fixing Wednesdays and Saturdays as vaccination days for recipients of second dose and Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for recipients of first dose. However, this change is temporary and the vaccination schedule may again get altered next week, depending on the demand for the second dose, said a civic official. According to a KMC medical officer, who has been assigned to look after vaccination at a Covishield clinic located in Tollygunge after the introduction of the new civic vaccination schedule from Monday—alternate days for first and second doses—the number of recipients of the second dose in the past two days had barely stood at 60. But, the KMC medical officer said, he was expecting a surge in the demand for a second doses once the fresh group of 18-plus recipients joined the vaccination queue at his clinic from next week onwards. “Going by the vaccination record of my clinic, I have reasons to believe that we will need to keep a good stock of vaccines for recipients of second dose for next few weeks as the demand is likely to rise from next week,” the civic official said.
At the KMC-run vaccination mega centres, the recipients of Covishield first dose has outnumbered the second dose recipients. For example, while the number of recipients of the first dose at Bhawanipur Education Society on Tuesday stood at 430, the number of second dose recipients on Wednesday didn’t exceed 110. But, once the second dose demand soared, the mega centres will need to tackle a heavy rush, felt a KMC health department senior official.
