Even as the Centre is mulling over reducing the minimum gap between two shots of Covishield from 84 days to 56 days for swift coverage, Maharashtra faces another problem. More than 1.4 crore people who received the first dose of Covishield vaccine have not returned for their second dose after their due dates lapsed months ago.
A state official told Times of India that the state’s numbers clearly suggest that the issue is not about the gap between doses, but people’s willingness to take the second dose. While the state has administered first dose to over 92 percent of its adult population, the second dose coverage has been stagnating at 73 percent for weeks. The health department directed districts to improve their coverage as the state’s numbers were below national average.
“Overall 1.7 crore people – 1.4 crore Covishield and 34.6 lakh Covaxin recipients – have missed their second doses,” Dr Sachin Desai, state immunization officer, was quoted by Times of India as saying. Desai said, “We don’t understand why this has happened, but we are persistently following up with districts to advance their full vaccination coverage.”
In Mumbai, nearly 10 lakh people have not taken their second dose. Although initially the wide interval of 12 to 16 weeks was blamed for a higher default rate among Covishield takers, data shows Covaxin recipients are no better as 35 lakh of them failed to take the second dose despite only a four-week interval between two shots.
Pune district has the highest number of second dose defaulters with 13.2 lakh people missing their Covishield shot, and nearly 3 lakh people for Covaxin. Thane and Nagpur have 8.6 lakh and 8.3 lakh people who defaulted on their second shots of Covishield.
According to Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, deputy director of Pune circle, there are several reasons for the drop in second doses in Pune. When vaccination started, Pune had the best stock and arrangements that attracted people from nieghbouring districts. With supply later improving, people began taking vaccines in their own districts, he said.
The Omicron wave could be another reason, he said. “Pune had the highest number of cases. Those who got infected cannot take their second shot for 90 days at least,” he added.
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