Maharashtra runs out of Covishield in absence of supply from Centre

Pune: The state has run out of Covishield stock when Covid cases are on the rise and a large section of population is due for their booster dose. State public health secretary Nawin Sona Natesan told TOI that they had demanded fresh stock from the Centre in December 2022 but were yet to get any supply.

The Covaxin stock in Maharashtra is not high either. Health services director Nitin Ambadekar said the state had only around 1.45 lakh Covaxin doses.The daily vaccination suddenly shot up in Maharashtra in the fourth week of December, following the news of the BF.7 variant's circulation in China. This exhausted the available Covishield doses across government-run sites.

Another official from the health services said the beneficiaries wanting to opt for Covishield vaccination could get it at private vaccination sites in the absence of stock with the state government.

Sanjay Patil, chairman, Indian Medical Association's Hospital Board of India, Pune chapter, said it was advisable that adults due for their booster dose should take one amid the waning immunity. He said the private health sector was not at all interested in stocking up Covid vaccines due to previous experiences of expiration of stock.