SHILLONG, April 28: Vaccination for people aged 18-45 years may not take off in Meghalaya from May 1 due to the unavailability of vaccines.
Principal Secretary, Health, Sampath Kumar said many registered after the registration window for people above 18 years of age opened online on Wednesday.
He said the state government has placed its order for vaccines with the Serum Institute of India but it would take at least a month for the consignment to be delivered to Meghalaya.
“Once we get the supplies, we will schedule the vaccination drive for people above 18 years,” Kumar said.
The official claimed that the government is well prepared for the vaccination drive being carried out intensively in the state.
“Right now, the government is focusing on people above 45 years of age,” he said, adding that vaccination is an important measure in the fight against COVID-19 and it provides the first line of defence against the virus.
The state is doing around 10,000 vaccinations per day and has vaccinated a large segment of health and frontline workers.
With the vaccination drive picking up pace in Meghalaya, the state government seeks to provide at least the first dose to everyone in the state by August-September this year.
Many in the state were initially hesitant to take the vaccine but an awareness campaign and no adverse effects helped earn confidence in the vaccine. People are coming in large numbers to vaccinate themselves, officials said.
The government has also taken the help of MLAs to spread the word about the safety of the virus. It hopes to achieve the target of vaccinating 20,000-25,000 people every day.
Meanwhile, amidst fear of shortage of oxygen, the Meghalaya government has completed the tender process for setting up two cryogenic oxygen plants – one at Pasteur Institute in the city and another in Tura.
Informing reporters that the work order would be issued soon, Health Minister AL Hek said the state has 202 oxygen concentrators, including 40 in East Khasi Hills. The state also has 75 Bi-level positive airway pressure in addition to 116 ventilators. There are 609 oxygen-supported beds and 65 ICU beds in the state.
Hek also assured that the state has sufficient stocks of drugs, vaccines and ventilators while Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has instructed the Health department to recruit additional manpower.
Among other measures, the state government has decided to turn the Nongthymmai campus of IIM Shillong into a corona care centre with 200 beds.
The Umsawli corona care centre has 100 beds while Shillong Civil Hospital has about 40.
