PUNE: The district now has several thousand people in the 18-44 group who are up for a second dose of Covaxin.
Data shows nearly 8,800 beneficiaries in the 18-44 group got their first doses of Covaxin between May 6 and 8.
But their second-dose coverage has been slow, with an average of 1,500 shots daily over the last few days.
Overall, between May 5 and 11, nearly 17,000 adults were given their first Covaxin doses.
Many of them have now completed the four-week interval between doses and as per guidelines, a Covaxin second shot should come four to six weeks after the first.
The civic bodies here had recently restarted vaccinations for the 18-44 group, after stopping drives at their centres in mid-May due to shortages.
The restarted drives were only for second Covaxin doses.
The PMC had said 60% of second Covaxin doses for the 18-44 group would be set aside for those booking slots online.
The rest would be for walk-ins.
But citizens said the number of centres offering second Covaxin doses for the 18-44 group is limited.
On Monday, the PMC had 16 centres (for 18-44s) offering 100 Covaxin second doses each.
In Pimpri Chinchwad, the PCMC had none.
Paresh Joglekar, who completed his interval along with his wife a few days ago, said they have been trying to find a slot on CoWIN.
“On Monday, I tried to walk into a couple of civic-run sites in Aundh.
But they were teeming with people — all walk-ins for a Covaxin second shot.
At one of the units, there were nearly 200 people in the queue before me.
I didn’t stand a chance,” Joglekar said, adding the line had formed as early as 5.30am.
Neeraj Shinde (39), who got his first Covaxin dose a month ago, said he can no longer rely on CoWIN to find a slot.
He said, “Even when slots show green, I get a pop-up saying the centre is booked.
When I go back to the list of centres, some centres show as green, but I’m still not able to book a slot.
It has been an extremely frustrating experience.” Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, assistant director (medical), Pune circle, said vaccine supply to the region is likely to improve from June 21 as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Monday.
“Those who took their first Covaxin shot on May 1 will be eligible for their second dose up to June 15.
So they need not worry even if the 28-day period after the first has passed.
We got ample Covaxin doses recently.
Most of them are being used for second doses,” he said.
1,000s in Pune await Covaxin 2nd shot amid slow coverage
