The third phase of vaccination campaign for people 18 years and above is starting in the country from today. But many state governments have refused to vaccinate people between 18 and 44 years, citing lack of vaccine. They say that there is no vaccine, so how to start a campaign. However, some states have also allowed the third phase of vaccination campaign to be started in some districts.
Delhi, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh have said that they will not be able to start Phase III vaccination for 18+ people from May 1 due to lack of vaccine.
Covid-19 Vaccination to begin in some districts of Gujarat, UP, Rajasthan
Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani said on Friday that on the foundation day of Gujarat on May 1, the state government will provide free vaccines to the people 18-year-old and above in 10 districts of the state, where Covid cases are high. Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary of Health Amit Mohan Prasad told that vaccination will be started on the first day in 7 districts where the active Covid cases are more than 9000. These districts are Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Bareilly.
Serum Institute has agreed to give 3 lakh doses to Rajasthan at present. Therefore, vaccination will be started in the 11 district headquarters which are most affected by the corona. They include Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Alwar, Udaipur, Dhaulpur, Kota, Bhilwara, Sikar and Pali.
The Government of Chhattisgarh has decided to vaccinate eligible persons of Antyodaya ration card holders in the state from 18 to 44 years. If the supply of vaccine increases, BPL ration card holders and then APL ration card holders will get vaccinated. However, vaccination of people above 45 years of age will continue as per the guidelines of the Central Government.
Odisha government said on Friday night that it will start the third phase of Covid vaccination only in Bhubaneswar for people aged 18-44 on May 1, because it Weekends are the first day of closure in the entire state. The state changed its decision not to start vaccination from May 1, after receiving one and a half lakh doses of corona vaccine at around 9 pm on Friday night.
Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Puducherry said that they do not have enough stock of vaccines. Due to uncertainty over the supply of vaccines, the Tamil Nadu government decided to postpone vaccination to be held today.
Fortis will start vaccination in North India
Fortis Healthcare has said that it will start the third phase of Covid vaccination campaign for adults at all its centers in North India from Saturday. Apart from Fortis, Apollo Hospitals has also announced to start a third phase vaccination campaign for all adults at its centers. In a statement issued by Fortis, it said, “Fortis will start vaccination for all people above 18 years of age in all its centers in North India from Saturday.”
