Gangtok: A day after the Union Health Ministry claimed Sikkim had 1.27 lakh vaccines, which was deemed ‘misleading’ by Sikkim’s health department official, the Sikkim Chief Minister has claimed there are 1.30 lakh vaccines in Sikkim.
EastMojo carried out an extensive ground report on the ‘misleading’ data where the available vaccines recorded till May 28 were around 1 lakh. Addressing this issue at the Namchi District Administration Centre, Sikkim CM stated, “For the 45 above age group above, we have 1.3 lakh dosage for the second dose. We have separate funds needed for vaccination, but it is governed by the central government. They control the dosage. We have been promised 11,000 in the coming month by the centre”.
A day before, the State Immunization Officer Phumzay Denzongpa had stated, “At 930 am on Friday morning, we reported 1,00,140 doses available in the eVIN for Sikkim, the figures shown by the centre is misleading. We are yet to add the upcoming vaccine dosage of 15,430 as it is yet to be received, there is no way we have 1.27 lakh vaccines”.
It also appears that the Sikkim Chief Minister is yet to be informed about the additional dosage that Sikkim is receiving. From the earlier 11,000 doses designated for Sikkim, the allocation has been increased for the State to reach 15,430 dosage which is likely to be received by the State only in the first week of June.
CM Golay in his address on Saturday stated, “There are 11,000 more doses to be acquired by the State in June. Even Manipal Hospital has reached an agreement, they will vaccinate as per their quota, they have been allocated 24,000. If it doesn’t get sold, we will reimburse it. The time frame has been stalled for 3 months. Even I will get the second dose only in July. We are trying to get that to be utilized for the 18-44 age group. We have sought permission for the same.”