PUNE: With 3.17% net wastage, Covaxin has been recorded to have a higher wastage rate compared to 1.76% net wastage of Covishield in the Pune district. A report on vaccine wastage stated that the state average for Covaxin wastage is just 0.79%.
According to Cowin data, Pune district has administered 1.25 crore Covishield doses so far against 9.84 lakh Covaxin doses.
Sanjay Deshmukh, the assistant director (medical), Public health department, Pune circle, told TOI, “One of the major reasons is the limited number of vaccination sites of Covaxin, which results in a limited response to the vaccine. The other reason being, the limited supply and limited beneficiaries.”
Deshmukh said Covaxin wastage has been observed to be higher across many other districts in the state. “The wastage could also be attributed to the fact that it was recorded in the phase when the district was going through a shortage of syringes. But now the issue has been addressed and the wastage is getting back to negligible,” he said.
An official with the District Hospital Aundh, which is the only dedicated Covaxin site in the district, said they recorded wastage of 145 doses since in January. “Most wastage occurred in the first two months when the Covaxin was available only in the 20-dose vial. Now the vial is available in 20, 10 and five dose vials,” said the official.
