In view of the shortage of COVID-19 vaccine in at least two districts, the state of Andhra Pradesh is set to get a supply of vaccines from neighbouring Tamil Nadu. According to officials in the Andhra Pradesh Health Department, two lakh vaccines have been dispatched from Chennai and are scheduled to reach the state by the end of the day.
Katamaneni Bhaskar, Andhra Pradesh Health Commissioner told TNM, “We have three lakh vaccines available as of today in the state. Another two lakh vaccines have been dispatched from Chennai and will reach Andhra Pradesh by the end of the day. Between April 15 and 20, another 10 lakh vaccine doses are likely to be sent to the state.”
TNM had on Thursday reported that two districts — Nellore and West Godavari — were running out of vaccines and there was a shortage of supply. Officials had said that a fresh batch of vaccines was supposed to reach Andhra on April 2, but the supply has been delayed.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Telangana, the state’s Health Minister told TNM that there is no shortage of COVID-19 vaccine supply in the state.
“We have a total of eight lakh vaccines as of today (April 8). It is sufficient for the state for another 10 days. There is no problem in Telangana,” Eatala Rajender told TNM on Thursday.
The Minister added that the state has sent another request for replenishing the stock. “Either today (April 8) or tomorrow (April 9) a new consignment is expected from the Union government,” Etala Rajender told TNM. He also said that as and when a request is made, the Union government has been sending vaccines immediately.
In Telangana, as of Wednesday night, a total of 14.03 lakh people have received the first dose of the vaccine, and 2.76 lakh people have received the second dose. On Wednesday alone, 65,468 people were administered the first dose and 6,084 people got the second dose, totalling to 71,552 vaccine doses administered in a single day.
Andhra Pradesh on the other hand last shared the figures for vaccination on Tuesday. On Tuesday, 73,819 people in the state were administered the first dose, while 17,128 received the second dose of the vaccine.
The Union Health Minister on Wednesday had issued a statement that there was no shortage of vaccines anywhere in the country, even as the state of Maharashtra said that they had to close vaccination centres because there were not enough vaccines. "I'm not saying that the Union government is not giving us vaccines but the speed of delivery of vaccines is slow,” Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope had said.