As the country is going through a shortage of vaccine for those above 45 years, and Covishield, as well as Covaxin both, are out of stocks, the health department of Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula said that they will not vaccinate anyone below the age of 45 at least till Monday.
UT advisor Manoj Parida said that phase three of the vaccination drive will not commence from May 1. In the announcement, Parida said, "The existing stock of nearly one lakh vaccines will be used for persons above 45 for the first and second dose. For those who are above-18 new beneficiaries, vaccination will start only after adequate extra supplies are received".
Mohali DC Girish Dayalan said that the stock ordered for the vaccination of age group between 18-44 has not been received yet at the state level due to which it is not possible to start the third phase of the vaccination drive from May 1, but the candidate can continue with their registration on the portal. He further said that the free vaccination for 45-plus will continue unabatedly.
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Panchkula District Immunization Officer Dr. Meenu Sasan said, "We will receive the vaccination for the drive on Sunday evening and the drive for those below 45 will probably start from Monday." Despite such a promising start, Panchkula district's vaccine stock had almost finished on April 24 and had to slow down the vaccination drive. Earlier about 2,500 people were vaccinated per day at more than 30 centres and not the value had decreased to 1000 people per day at 15 centres.
To break the chain of transmission, UT Administration has already imposed a curfew from 6 in the evening to 5 am on all days as a measure of isolation and social distancing and to restrict the non-essential movement of people and vehicles.