Vaccine shortage strikes again, many centres to be shut today

New Delhi: Even as the Capital continued its spiral downward from the brutal second wave of the pandemic, reporting 45 new infections on Monday, the lowest in over a year, officials here and the Delhi govt are growing increasingly concerned over the staggered vaccination programme being run by the Central govt.

Significantly, the shortage of Covid vaccines has once again hit the Capital city, with the Delhi government reporting less than one day's stocks left in its reserves.

Deputy Chief Minister and Delhi nodal minister for Covid management, Manish Sisodia on Monday said that the Centre's vaccination policy allowed for vaccines to reach the city only for a couple of days before running out again.

He tweeted on Monday, "Vaccine has run out again in Delhi... The central government gives vaccines for a day or two, then we have to keep vaccine centers closed for several days. What is the compulsion of the central government... why is our country's vaccine program staggered even after so many days?"

On Monday, as per the Cowin portal, the city had administered just around 36,000 doses — staggeringly low compared to the daily average of over 1.5 lakh.

The Capital currently has 2.39 lakh doses of Covaxin with it but only 20 per cent of this can be used for the first dose. In addition, the city has just 19,000 doses of Covishield left with it. Officials said only 20 per cent of Covaxin stocks were being used for the first dose because of "limited stocks and irregular delivery cycles".

Meanwhile, three more deaths from were reported on Monday, taking the death toll here to 25,018. The 45 new cases reported on Monday came out of around 55,000 tests, throwing up a positivity rate of around 0.08 per cent.