COVID-19 Vaccination for 18-44 Age Group to Be Delayed by Three-Four Weeks in Himachal Pradesh

Shimla, April 30: The third phase of vaccination for people in the 18-44 age group will not begin on May 1, announced earlier, as the vaccine supply from the manufacture is expected only after three-four weeks, an official said on Friday.

It may take three-four weeks for starting the vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group in the hill state, Special Health Secretary Nipun Jindal said. The vaccination for the age group 18-44 will not start till the supplies of the vaccines, for which an order has been placed by the state government, is not received, he said. Jindal said according to the manufacturer, it may take around three-four weeks for the supplies to begin.

He said the state government had already placed an order with the Serum Institute of India for procuring 73 lakh doses of the vaccine in a phased manner over the next three-four months. Free COVID-19 Vaccine: Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Are States That Have Announced Free Coronavirus Vaccination From May 1 Ready?.

However, it has been communicated from the manufacturer that the supplies will commence after three-four weeks, subsequent to which the third phase of vaccination will start at the government COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs), he added.

Stating that the state government will vaccinate people in this age group free of costs through government CVCs, Jindal said the number of estimated persons in  the Himachal Pradesh who are eligible for vaccination under this category are  around 31 lakhs. However, if the private hospitals have vaccine supply, they may start vaccination for this age group as per the price and vaccine type declared by them on COWIN portal, he added.

The registration for 18-44 age group has been started on the COWIN portal since April 28 and the service can be availed on the Arogya Setu App, he added. All the individuals who are eligible under this category can register themselves for vaccination on this portal, he added.

However they should visit the government CVCs only when they have scheduled appointment on the COWIN portal to avoid any inconvenience, he added. In response to queries like the number of registered individuals in HP of the 18-44 years of age, it was informed that the region or state wise breakup cannot be generated on the COWIN portal.

Till date, 14.77 lakh people including Health Care Workers, Front Line Workers and people aged above 45 have been administered COVID vaccine in the state and 2.37 lakh of them have been administered the second dose as well, he added. AstraZeneca Delivers 68 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Shots in 1st Quarter of 2021.

Jindal said the vaccination for the HCWs, FLWs and people aged above 45 will continue uninterruptedly and there will be no issue in providing the first and second dose of people belonging to these categories, he added. The state at present has a stock of 2.08 lakh doses for these categories and another 1.5 lakhs was being received on Friday, he added.

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