Syringe shortage slows down vax drive in Gondia dist

Nagpur: Last week, Covid vaccination slowed down in Gondia and almost came to a halt on Monday. The crisis was not due to shortage of doses, which has become quite usual after the government allowed vaccination of more eligible beneficiaries across the state. The district health officials had run out of syringes which were disproportionate to the number of doses Gondia had been receiving for the last few weeks.
While the vaccination drive gathered pace, the number of syringes are said to be nearly half the number of doses available with the district at any point of time.This has compelled the district to take breaks at certain centres or slow down the drive till it receives enough stock of syringes, officials said.
From an average of 7,000 vaccinations at the start of this month, the figures fell to just over 600 on August 16. On Thursday too, just 130 vaccinations were done as compared to 15,000 and 11,000 in the previous two days.
Both civil surgeon (CS) Dr Amrish Mohabe and district health officer (DHO) Dr Nitin Kapse admitted that the number of syringes was less as compared to doses. Yet, they ruled out any impact on the drive.
According to the vaccination data available on the Co-Win dashboard, Gondia district’s single day figure stood at over 10,000 on August 4. Intermittently, the daily achievement kept dropping by half or even more than the district’s capability till Thursday.
The CS and DHO said that the vaccination came to halt on Monday and Thursday as the staff was on leave. However, the drive was running full steam in Bhandara, Nagpur, Wardha and other districts in the division on both days.
Till date, the district has achieved 7.28 lakh vaccination with just 1.51 lakh of them compeleting their second dose. The widening gap between first and second doses raises a question, especially when health officials have claimed that the district has plenty of stock.
Dr Mohabe said, “Since beneficaires have increased, the drive is going on continuously. Once less syringes were received with doses. We did less vaccination when syringe stock depleted. We have received over 40,000 syringes from the deputy director of health services office (DDHS). The procurement is done at the DDHS level just like the vaccines.”
DHO Dr Kapse said that syringe stocks are received in every couple of days. “We have more doses but the syringe stock ensures we will have a buffer of next few days. It is supplied as per requirement. As it gets exhausted, we are provided new stock,” he said.
DDHS officials claimed to have sufficient stock but they didn't disclose the exact number of syringes and doses.
Gondia district vaccination
Total | 7.28lakh
First dose | 5.76 lakh
Second dose | 1.51lakh
High and Low vax day
August 4 | 10,137
Aug 7 | 5,760
Aug 9 | 3,713
Aug 13 | 3,949
Aug 16 | 651
Aug 19 | 130
(As per Co-Win dashboard)