VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh, which is facing a shortage of Covid-19 vaccine for the past two days following Tika Utsav, received six lakh doses on Saturday morning and the same were dispatched to the districts by evening. Out of six lakh doses of vaccine, five lakh were Covishield and one lakh was Covaxin. Covishield vials were received from Serum Institute of India in Pune and Covaxin was received from Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad. According to sources, another two lakh Covishield vaccine are likely to arrive on Sunday.
The consignment has arrived in the State within hours after Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking 60 lakh doses of Covid- 19 vaccine. In his letter, the Chief Minister had explained that they had administered over six lakh vaccines in a single day during Tika Utsav, but couldn’t continue in the same spirit for want of a vaccines. On Friday, Jagan during a review meeting with collectors, the SPs and senior officers directed the heads of health department to review the situation with the collectors on a daily basis.
On Saturday, on the Chief Minister’s directions, the health department asked the collectors to ensure that all health workers and frontline workers are given the jab within 72 hours. According to a senior health official, no vaccination was taken up on Saturday. It will be taken up in a fullfledged manner from Monday onwards, he added.
Meanwhile, all the collectors along with special Covid-19 officers of various districts held a review meeting to take stock of the situation, preparedness of the hospitals, functioning of Covid-19 call centres and directed the staff concerned to conduct intensive testing. Principal Secretary (Health) Anil Kumar Singhal and Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar reviewed the situation along with the collectors on Saturday evening—testing conducted, hospital preparedness among others.