BENGALURU: Public and private hospitals are in a dilemma over beginning the drive for the second dose of Covid vaccination on February 15 as they aren’t sure about the date. “We have not received any guidelines from the Government of India. We are confused if the second dose is supposed to be administered after four weeks or eight weeks after the first dose. For now, the second dose drive is on hold in our hospital,” said a doctor from Sir CV Raman General Hospital.
However, Medical Superintendent of KC General Hospital, BR Venkateshaiah said the second dose drive will start from Monday for health workers, who received their first dose on January 16. Private hospitals have not received a green signal from the government yet. A doctor from Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road said, “We got a message from the hospital stating they are stopping the vaccination of second dosage which was scheduled on February 15, for many people.
They said that they will inform the new date of vaccination as soon as they get confirmation from the BBMP. We haven’t received the new dates yet.” Dr Jagadish Hiremath, CEO of Ace Suhas Hospital, said, “We have no idea when the second round of vaccination will begin. So far, we have not received any communication from the government.” However, both Dr Rajani Nageshrao, Deputy Director, Immunisation and Arundhati Chandrashekar, Managing Director of National Health Mission, from the Department of Health and Family Welfare told TNIE that the second dose will be administered from February 15 itself.
“Those who got Covishield and Covaxin, will get their second doses from Monday. The health department held a video conference with the Government of India on Sunday and it was decided to keep the gap as four weeks and not eight weeks. We have informed district hospitals, BBMP and private hospitals within a short notice,” said Arundhati, adding that, “Some government hospitals will start on Monday and others, the day after.
Private hospitals will also start after a couple of days as they need to get prepared. In some hospitals, they have to clear the backlog of beneficiaries first, before starting the second dose.”Dr Rajani said the second dose of Covaxin will be given from February 15 in the six selected centres which received the first dose of the Bharat Biotech vaccine in January. These include one centre each in Ballari, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chamarajnagar, Chikkamagaluru, and Davanagere.