Kerala suspends vaccination after Covid vaccine runs out of stock

Thiruvananthapuram: The vaccine shortage in many districts in Kerala has forced to temporarily stop vaccination, said Health Minister Veena George.

"We have zero vaccine stocks now. It seems there won't be vaccination drive in the state for the next few days," she said.

As per reports, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha does not have any Covishield vaccine doses and fresh vaccine batches are not expected to reach the state before July 29.

The state health minister's statement came as another 11,586 people turned positive from 1,09,382 samples tested in the past 24 hours and the test positivity rate stood at 10.59 per cent.

"We have, by now, received 1.66 crore vaccines doses and using that without any wastage, we have been able to administer 1.87 crore vaccinations. Figures which are now coming shows that Kerala has practically run out of vaccines. Next month, we want 10 lakh doses," said George.

"In the above 45 age category, 76 per cent of the population have received the first dose, while 35 per cent have got both the doses. Studies have shown that only 42 per cent of the Kerala population have Covid antibodies, which means that a majority of our population are susceptible. Hence we have to ensure that vaccination takes place at the earliest," she added.

The Covid figures reveal that Kerala continues to lead the rest of the country. While the national TPR is below 4 per cent, Kerala's TPR stands at 10.59 per cent, and of the close to 4.12 lakh active cases, the state had 1,36,814 as of Monday.

There were another 135 Covid deaths reported, taking the total death toll to 16,170.

George also said that the state government is regularly in touch with the Centre, demanding more supplies of vaccines.

Kerala has recently seen a spurt in Covid cases and has been under lockdown, which the state government relaxed for three days during Eid.

While the move drew censure from the top medical body, the Indian Medical Association, and was raised in the Supreme Court, the Pinarayi Vijayan government did not back down.