Covaxin stocks to last for a day, covishield for 3-4 days in Delhi

New Delhi : The Delhi government on Monday raised an SOS to centre, saying that they have covaxin stock left for just one day and covishield stock for around 4 days.

"There is only one day of Covaxin left in Delhi and only three to four days of Covishield. We need vaccines at the earliest," Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said today.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier notified that shortage of coronavirus vaccine will soon arise as people from neighboring NCR region are getting their shots in the national capital.

The Centre allowed vaccination of all adults from May 1 onwards, and also allowed states and private entities to buy the vaccines directly from the manufacturers.

Vaccine manufacturers like Bharat Biotech (Covaxin) and Serum Institute of India (Covishield) are to sell half their doses to the Centre at lower prices and the other half to states and private hospitals at higher prices.

The states have received their quota of vaccine only from the centre as the manufacturer has said that they will require more time to supply the vaccine to states and private hospitals.

Arvind Kejriwal has said that in Delhi, almost half the two crore population is in the 18 to 45 age group and therefore eligible for vaccines. Some 50 lakh are above 45.

"We need 3 crore doses for 1.5 crore people," Kejriwal said.