New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday once again sent an SOS to the central government amid the acute shortage of COVID-19 vaccines and said that Covaxin stock has almost ended in the national capital while Covidshield is left only for two to three days for people in the age group of 18 to 44 years.
This is the second time in less than a week when Jain has sent an SOS to the Centre, asking them to immediately sent vaccines to ensure that the COVID-19 inoculation drive in Delhi continues without any hindrance.
"We can't mix already assigned centers for Covaxin and Covishield vaccines," Jain was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Not just Delhi, several states and union territories (UTs), mainly ruled by the opposition, have alleged a shortage of vaccines, asking the Centre to dispatch more jabs to ensure that the vaccination drive continues.
Amid this, the Centre on Thursday increased the gap between two doses of Covishield from six to eight weeks to 12-16 weeks after an expert panel suggested it to do so to increase the efficacy of the vaccine. However, there is no change in the dosage gap of Covaxin.
Meanwhile, Jain on Friday also said that the Centre should issue a global tender as the Delhi government can only procure Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V in the country. He also said that the prices of Covaxin should be reduced by the Centre.
"Central government is a partner in Covaxin's manufacturing so they can share the formula with others. Centre should cap prices of all vaccines and it should not be more than Rs 150 per dose... We'll start vaccination for 45 years and above age group in government schools soon," ANI quoted Jain as saying.
Delhi, where a lockdown has been imposed till May 17, is one of the worst-hit states by the pandemic in India. However, the city-state has been witnessing a decline in active cases with its positivity rate dropped to 14.24 per cent.
As per the information available at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Delhi has over 77,000 active cases while 12.74 lakh patients have recovered from the infection so far. The death toll, meanwhile, in Delhi stands at 20,618.