Delhi government on Wednesday said its Covaxin stock for people in 18-44 years age group is over. Starting Thursday, the vaccine will not be administered to people in this age group. Meanwhile, the Covaxin stock reserved for people aged 45 years and above and frontline workers will last four days, whereas Covishield stock for these categories will last another three days.
Around 16,000 doses were administered at 44 Covaxin centres in Delhi on Wednesday, informed AAP MLA Atishi Marlena. These centres will be closed from today evening.
Atishi hoped that the central government would intervene and make Covaxin doses available for 18-44 age category. "Soon it will be time to give the second dose of Covaxin to beneficiaries in this category," she added.
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The national capital had received 2.67 lakh doses of Covishield on May 11, the AAP leader informed. Currently, 4.18 lakh Covishield doses are left for people in 18-44 age group. These will last for nine more days, she added.
In response to Delhi government's request for Covaxin, producer Bharat Biotech had informed that it is unable to keep up with demand despite expanding production capacity, and thus, will not be able to provide the additional doses.
Delhi government had written to the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm on May 7 for supply of Covaxin. Under the third phase of India's coronavirus vaccination drive, which opened the programme to people in 18-44 years age group, states are allowed to directly procure COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturers.
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"We acknowledge with thanks receipt of your letter dated May 7, 2021, regarding supply of Covaxin. We appreciate your interest in procuring large quantities of Covaxin for vaccination programme. However, there has been an unprecedented demand for our vaccine and in spite of increasing production every month, we are unable to keep up with the demand. Further, we are making dispatches as per the directives of the concerned government officials. We therefore sincerely regret that we cannot make any additional supplies as required by you," wrote Bharat Biotech Chairman Krishna Ella in a letter to Delhi government's Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare).
Delhi reported 13,287 new coronavirus cases and 300 more fatalities on Wednesday, while the positivity rate came down to 17 per cent, the lowest since April 15, according to the health department. As many as 14,071 people recovered from the infection in the city during the period.
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Presently, there are 82,725 active cases, down from 83,809 the previous day, of which 49,974 are in home isolation. Cumulative cases stand at 13,61,986, while the death toll is at 20,310. Over 12.58 lakh people have either recovered, migrated out or have been discharged. Of the 23,202 hospital beds for coronavirus patients in the city, 4,469 are vacant.