Chennai: Over 25,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reportedly wasted in Tamilnadu due to low turnout at vaccination centres throughout the first phase of the drive, which began on 16 January.
The directorate of public health, which is responsible for the drive in the State, said nearly 15 per cent of the shots have gone waste after vaccinating 1,97,114 people until Wednesday.
Meanwhile, health experts are now demanding that the vaccination drive be opened to general public, with priority to elderly and those with comorbid conditions.
Both Covaxin and Covishield – the two Covid-19 vaccines that have been granted emergency use approval in India – come in vials of 10 to 20 doses. They need to be used within four hours. Due to low turnout in Tamilnadu, there are now several vials containing unused doses. These have been stacked away in special boxes labelled ‘unusable vials’.