A day after the additional chief secretary of Odisha wrote to Union health minister Harsh Vardhan about “Nil stock of Covishield vaccine in all Regional & District vaccine stores”, Naba Kisor Das, the state’s health minister, wrote to Vardhan on April 7 informing him that with the available vaccine stock, the state “will be able to continue vaccination for the next two days”. 

“By 9th April, there will be stock out of Covishield vaccine in the entire State. This will adversely impact timely administration of the second dose of vaccine as well as delay in vaccination of citizens (45 years and above),” reads the Odisha health minister’s letter.

The letter also informs the central government that “due to shortage of vaccine, we have had to close nearly 700 vaccination centres in the State”. Of the total 1,400 functional sites for vaccination, only 755 were active on April 7. 

Das went on to mention that the issue of vaccine stocks running dry “has been raised repeatedly by the Additional Chief Secretary of Odisha, Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Odisha with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare”. He has asked for a supply of at least 10 days stock — 2.5 million vaccine doses.

These concerns of limited vaccine stocks have been raised by  some other state governments as well, including Maharashtra.

Also Read: COVID19 second wave: Several states in India reportedly have limited vaccine stocks. Is there a vaccine shortage? 

Yesterday, Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra, wrote to Vardhan informing: “The speed of vaccination and the volume also means that many districts have run out of vaccines and other districts have stocks that would last only for 48 hours.” 

In her letter, she also went on to write: “We need the Union Government to release more vaccines to Maharashtra in time so that we can keep up the Government of India’s drive to safeguard as many citizens as possible.”

Also Read: ‘Vaccine is the basic right of every Indian’: Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi writes to the health minister Harsh Vardhan on COVID19 vaccination

Meanwhile, in a statement on April 7, Vardhan dismissed allegations of vaccine shortage as “utterly baseless”. “I have seen the statements made by public representatives in Maharashtra about shortage of vaccines. This is nothing but an attempt to divert attention from the Maharashtra government’s repeated failures to control the spread of the pandemic,” said Vardhan.

In his statement, the Union health minister pointed out that Maharashtra had vaccinated only 86 per cent of health workers with the first dose. The equivalent numbers for Delhi and Punjab are 72 per cent and 64 per cent. On the other hand, 10 states/Union Territories have done more than 90 per cent. 

Also Read: ‘Allegations of vaccine shortage are utterly baseless’: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

Maharashtra has vaccinated just 41 per cent of its healthcare workers with a second dose. The equivalent numbers for Delhi and Punjab are 41 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively. There are 12 Indian states/UTs that have done more than 60 per cent, reads Vardhan’s statement.

“Doesn’t it seem evident that these states are trying to divert attention from their poor vaccination efforts by just continuously shifting the goal-posts?” he asked. “Politicising such a public health issue is a damning indictment of certain political leaders who should know better,” he added.

Also Read: Lower COVID-19 vaccination age to 25, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray requests PM Modi

Meanwhile, news reports are pouring in from other states such as  Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, where vaccine drives have been affected as vaccine stocks are drying up.

In the last 24 hours, India has recorded 126,789 coronavirus cases and 685 deaths. 

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, on April 8, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern temporarily suspended entry of all travellers from India, including its own citizens. The suspension will be in place from 4 pm on April 11 and stay until April 28, news reports said.

Also Read: COVID19 second wave: India crosses the daily 115,000-case threshold; night curfew in Chandigarh and Gujarat