Only 6 States to Begin Vaccination from Today, Most to Limit in Few Districts

As India on Saturday widens the scope of inoculation to include those above 18 years, only six states will be able to start vaccination as others face vaccine shortage.

Several states, including Kerala, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra have said they do not have sufficient doses of vaccine for the inoculation of those in the 18-44 age group. In most of these states, inoculation drive will be restrained in just few districts.

In Mumbai, which is in the worst Covid-19 affected states, authorities have shut vaccination drive for three days from Friday citing lack of adequate doses. “Vaccination in Mumbai will be completely closed for three days from Friday, April 30, 2021 to Sunday, May 2, 2021 due to depletion of available vaccines,” the civic body said in a statement.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that required vaccine doses have not been received yet for the drive. He appealed to people in the targeted age group not to line up at vaccination centres in the city on May 1. In the next one-two days, around three lakh Covishield vaccines will be received and the drive for vaccinating people in the age group 18-44 will commence, Kejriwal said in an online briefing.

In Uttar Pradesh, the vaccination drive will start only in 7 out of the 75 districts. Health officials reportedly told Time of India that the vaccination will only take place in Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Bareilly.

In Rajasthan the vaccination will start in only three districts- Ajmer, Jaipur and Jodhpur. In Gujarat the drive will be carried out only in 10 out of 33 districts.

Odisha government will start vaccination today as the state received a consignment of 1.5 lakh doses of Covaxin yesterday evening.

Assam, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh confirmed that the state will not start the vaccination drive for everyone above 18 from today. West Bengal will begin the vaccination drive from May 5.

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