A delay by the Centre in providing vaccine vials to Jharkhand may prove to be a stumbling block in the immunisation drive against Covid-19 as Jharkhand is now left with about 3 lakh vaccine doses which may not last for more than a week, officials spearheading the vaccination programme in the state said on Monday.

Health officials in the state are hopeful that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will provide additional vials of Covishield as well as Covaxin vaccines to the state by the end of Tuesday. However, if the vaccines do not reach on time, then the state may have to deny the first jab to some residents in order to save them for second jabs, which are supposed to be given within six weeks of the first.

A senior official in the health department, requesting not to be quoted, said there was no reason to panic as the state would get more vials of vaccines from the Centre before the available doses are administered to beneficiaries. However, the immunisation programme may get affected if fresh doses are not provided on time, he admitted.

“We are expecting more vaccine vials from the Centre on Tuesday. The immunisation programme will continue,” said the official, adding that the vaccine in stock will last up till April 10.

The state on Sunday administered the first dose of the vaccine to over 80,000 residents, but the second dose was only administered to 2,391 people, hardly 2 per cent of the over 1.4 lakh registered beneficiaries. If 80,000 people are administered vaccine jabs every day, then the stock will last for hardly four days.

Jharkhand has so far received around 21 lakh doses of vaccine from the Centre and more than 16 lakh people have been administered the jabs in the state since the launch of the immunisation programme on January 16, said Dr Ajit Prasad, the immunisation officer of Jharkhand.

The health department has been pressing for timely vaccination in order to tackle the second wave of Covid-19 in the state. Chief minister Hemant Soren said on Sunday that besides taking precautions, it was important to get vaccinated on time in order to defeat Covid-19. The state recently ran a panchayat level vaccination campaign in which more than 8 lakh rural residents got the first jab of the vaccine.

Covid cases have been on the rise in Jharkhand since mid-March. As per government data, the active caseload in the state has jumped above 5,000, while that in Ranchi has crossed the 3,000 mark.