COVID-19 vaccine beneficiaries can now choose between Covishield, Covaxin

The people of Mumbai and Maharashtra have given a low response to Covaxin, a homegrown anti-COVID vaccine being developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council For Medical Research (ICMR).

As a result, the state health department has decided that district hospitals and four medical colleges in the state will now give the option to choose between both vaccines – Covaxin and Covishield.

According to reports, Covishield vials were limited till February 15. But since the demand for Covishield was rising over Covaxin, the government is making it available at more sites.

J. J. hospital has stockpiled thousands of doses of Covishield vaccine developed by Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune. It is understood that this dose will be used from next week. Moreover, the hospital administration has decided to reserve Monday to Thursday for Covaxin and Friday and Saturday for Covishield vials for beneficiaries.

Last week, the administration of the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines got off to a slow start, with a 61.5 per cent coverage, according to the district health department data. Of the 608 people who received the first doses of the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines on January 16, only 369 turned up for the second shot after 29 days. Officials expect the footfall to increase later in the vaccination drive.