A well-known hospital in the city exhausted its stock of COVID-19 vaccine within a few hours of opening its doors to the public on Monday. The situation is so bad that the multi-specialty hospital is unable to cater to walk-ins and is only administering the vaccine to those who have registered. This has been a daily occurrence since the spike in cases.
According to a hospital spokesperson, the demand for the vaccination had more than doubled over the past few weeks. “We have been asking for more vaccines. The authorities concerned claim there is a shortage everywhere,” said the spokesperson.
Admitting to a shortage in vaccine stock, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) Special Commissioner (Health) P. Rajendra Cholan told The Hindu that the vaccines are supplied to the civic body based on the average vaccinations achieved over the past three days.
“We are able to achieve around 40,000 vaccinations a day. We currently have a stock of 48,000 doses. The vaccines are given to us on a daily basis, and they are then sent to different zones,” he said.
Following the second wave and spurt in COVID-19 cases, however, the demand for vaccines, especially from the private medical establishments, had increased multi-fold.
He said there were a total of 400 vaccination sites in the eight different zones, in primary health centres, government hospitals, and private hospitals. Nearly 400 private hospitals had registered with the BBMP to administer vaccines.
“We need to give at least 100 doses to each centre. But with the increased demand, private hospitals are seeking additional doses, which we are not able to meet. Some of the big private hospitals are demanding nearly 2,000 doses a day,” he said, and added that the civic body had now urged the government to release at least 1 lakh doses a day for Bengaluru.
Week’s stock
The BBMP had failed to meet targets earlier due to lack of awareness and hesitance of citizens in taking the vaccines. “We had earlier given one week’s stock to the hospitals. Now, private hospitals are exhausting the stock for the day in just a couple of hours,” Mr. Cholan admitted.
Many centres also ran out of Covaxin faster than Covidshief. “At a BBMP vaccination centre in Chandra Layout, people who came to get their second dose of Covaxin were turned away on Monday because health workers said there was stock of only Covishield. Many people were told about this only when their turn for registration came. Also, the authorities should provide documentary evidence of the vaccine given at least for those taking the first dose,” said Girish, 40, who took his parents to the centre for their second shot of Covidshield
Senior health officials, on condition of anonymity, said that the vaccines are released based on the average vaccinations achieved over three-four days.
But with the demand for extra vaccines not being catered to, the BBMP has not been able to increase the daily average. “Unless additional doses are allotted to the BBMP, the daily average will not increase. The daily average should not be the criteria for vaccine release any more, given the demand from private hospitals,” a senior official said.
