People over 18 vaccinated in Chennai
As Covid-19 cases rise again in Chennai, several primary health centres run by the city municipal corporation have been vaccinating anyone over the age of 18 for the past few days, something several health experts have long been advocating.
The Union government has stipulated that only frontline workers of all ages, all those aged over 60 and people with co-morbidities aged 45 to 60 should be vaccinated for now.
A few people in their thirties said one PHC asked them to come after 2pm so that only those doses which would have anyway gone waste would be administered to them. Priority was still for the strictly eligible.
Once opened, a vial of Covaxin that contains 20 doses should be used within four hours. The same goes for a vial of Covishield, which contains 10 doses.
The city’s civic body has the capacity to vaccinate 60,000 people a day. The maximum it managed was 35,215 on Saturday. The number dropped to 18,018 on Monday. Close to 5 lakh people in Chennai have been vaccinated so far.