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India will begin its third phase of vaccination against Covid-19 on May 1 when every adult (18 years and above) will become eligible to get jabbed. On April 28, the first day of vaccine registration, more than 1.32 crore people signed up on the Co-WIN platform Aarogya Setu App and Umag App.

As of 9.30 am on April 30, 2.45 crore citizens registered on the Co-WIN portal. However, due to lack of enough information on vaccine availability, people were not able to book online appointments for the vaccine.

Meanwhile, many states have also announced the likelihood of not kickstarting the third phase of vaccination drive on May 1. It is primarily because these states failed to procure vaccine stocks or they’d like to prioritise vaccinating those above 45 for the second dosage before starting a new drive for 18 years + population.

Sorry state

New Delhi’s Health Minister Satyender Jain declared the capital lacked enough vaccines despite requests for procurement of fresh stock.

“We have requested for procurement of vaccines from the respective companies. Despite all preparations being made, availability of vaccines is inevitable for the inoculation to begin. As soon as these things are made clear and we receive the vaccines, we will let you know in a couple of days or so. We haven’t received the schedule from companies yet, which includes how many vials will reach on which dates,” Jain said during a media interaction.

So far, a total of 32,24,939 vaccine doses have been administered in Delhi, out of which 25,58,207 people have received the first dose and 6,66,732 people have taken the second jab too.

According to Delhi’s population, 162 people were vaccinated for every 1000 people.

New vaccine stock

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani complained of non-supply of fresh stock to begin vaccination drive on May 1.

“I am hopeful we will receive vaccine doses and within 15 days we will start the vaccination process (of those aged above 18 years),” CM said in a video message.

The state government had earlier ordered 1.5 crore vaccines for vaccination. But now Gujarat will buy 2 crore doses of Covishield vaccine from the Serum Institute in Pune and 50 lakh doses of Covaxine from Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad.

As per state population,180 doses per 1000 people has been administered in Gujarat, which is better than many other states.

What next?

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is hopeful that vaccination 3.0 will begin in the state after May 3.

“On contacting the manufacturers of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines, we learnt they are unable to give us doses for those above 18 years of age on May 1. So the drive covering the young people won’t start on May 1. We hope to get the vaccine doses around May 3. After that we will give the final shape to the drive for the young people. Keep patience and there is no need to panic,” Chouhan asserted in a video message on April 29.The state will, however, continue vaccinating those above the age of 45.

MP has also ordered for the vaccine from Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech. So far 80.76 lakh vaccine doses have been administered in the state, which according to the population, is 98 doses per 1000 people.

Preference to second dose

Down south, Kerala government has decided to prioritise vaccination of those above 45 for the second dosage before starting the new drive for 18 years + population. State Health Minister KK Shailaja issued new guidelines related to this on April29.

“The second dose of Covishield vaccine should be taken within 6-8 weeks and Covaxin within 4-6 weeks… The slot for the first dose will be allowed for online booking only after giving preference to those taking the second dose,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was quoted as saying.

CM’s office also confirmed on Twitter the cabinet approved purchase of 1 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines from the open market. A total of 70 lakh Covishield doses and 30 lakh Covaxin doses will be procured in May-July.

So far 15,33,984 people have tested positive for the pathogen in Kerala, out of which 12,44,301 have been cured. At the same time, the state’s death rate of 0.34% is much lower than other states and the national average.

Maharashtra awaits large vaccine stock

In Maharashtra, Serum Institute agreed to provide 3 lakh doses of the vaccine but Health Minister Rajesh Tope demanded stock of at least 25-30 lakh to begin the next phase of vaccination for 18-44 year old citizens.

No state government wants to begin the vaccination drive with a small stock and run out of vaccines midway.

A total of 1.58 crore vaccine doses have been given in the state. This means 130 vaccine doses per 1000 people has been administered until now.

So far more than 45 lakh people in Maharashtra have tested positive for Covid-19 and 37,99,266 people have also recovered.

Delay expected in Rajasthan as well

The Rajasthan government said there may be a delay in beginning the vaccination drive as the Serum Institute has not given any green signal to the state government as to when the vaccine will be delivered.

Rajasthan has ordered for 3.75 crore vaccine doses from SII.

So far, as many as 5,80,846 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the state, out of which 4.07 lakh people have recovered while 4,084 people have died.

A total of 1,29,36,911 vaccine doses have been given in the state while both doses were given to 21,91,129 people till now.