The health department is groping in the dark as it is unable to meet the demand for vaccination due to a shortage in the supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
While the requirement for a day was around 40,000 doses in the district, the supply was far short, a senior health official told The Hindu.
On Tuesday, 5,000 doses of vaccine were brought from Kozhikode. However, there were no doses left for Wednesday, he said. Even though 20,000 more doses had been allotted to the district, which would reach here on Wednesday, it would suffice for only the next two days, he said.
The vaccines received by the district had to be supplied to 25 private institutions in the district. These institutions were yet to receive 13,500 doses for which they had already made the payment, the official said on condition of anonymity.
He said that the district had 105 COVID vaccination centres spread across 71 panchayats. They were able to vaccinate 36,000 persons in a day.
But due to the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases, more people were registering online, putting a strain on the system.
Now, the situation was such that it was getting difficult to vaccinate those who required the vaccination immediately.
Due to the shortage in supply, there was a break in giving vaccines to the centres on an everyday basis, he said.
