BENGALURU/MANGALURU: At a time when the Covid-19 is raging and the number of people seeking vaccines has gone up substantially, many hospitals, especially private entities, are running out of stocks of both vaccines across major cities. On Sunday, St Philomena’s Hospital in Vivek Nagar and Axon Hospital in HAL Stage II, both in Bengaluru, had put up posters about non-availability of vaccines.
Many of those seeking to get vaccinated on Sunday, specially senior citizens who were scheduled to get their second dose, had to return from St Martha’s Hospital, Abhaya Hasta Hospital and Brimecare Hospital as they were told that there was no vaccine available.
“The same was the situation on Friday and Saturday,” said Divaker P D, a resident of HSR Layout in South Bengaluru. “For the first dose, they could take appointments on the phone. But for the second dose, they need to just walk-in and wait. It can be a nightmare for senior citizens to drive from hospital to hospital looking for the vaccine and wait for hours thereafter,” he rued.
Mangaluru running low on Covaxin
A prominent Bengalurean said, “We have been trying to get the Covishield vaccination in our apartment complex, but the hospitals insist that they need minimum numbers. We are waiting for May 1 when those aged above 18 become eligible so that we can get the required numbers,’’ he said. Similar is the situation according to the Bangalore Apartments’ Federation. Several people had to do the rounds of several hospitals in the city and wait for hours to get the jab.
The situation is no different in government Primary Health Care Centres. Many complained that the PHC in Agara and a couple of other PHCs in the city had run out of stock of Covishield and they were asked to return the next day. Meanwhile, in Mangaluru of Dakshina Kannada district, there were complaints of shortage of Covaxin.
Many several PHCs across the district reported that they had no stock of Covaxin. Those seeking a jab were sent back and the authorities say that it is due to the limited supply to the state. The problem is compounded as the vaccines are not interchangeable. A 48-year-old resident of Kapikad said he went to the Bejai PHC on Saturday to get Covaxin along with his wife, but they were told that there was no stock.