THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala, which set a model for the whole country by almost completing two doses of Covid vaccine is unable to use lakhs of vaccine doses available as booster dose.

The Central government's recommendation is that people under the age of 60 should pay for a booster dose at a private hospital. The government is waiting for a letter from the Union Health Ministry seeking permission to give booster dose to everyone.

Vaccines are wasted as demand decreases. A vial has ten doses. 60 per cent of doses gets wasted. This can be avoided if the booster dose is approved.

The free dose is only available to those over 60 years of age and for frontline warriors. Only one percent of those over 45 years were vaccinated in a private hospital. People under the age of 60 are willing to pay for doses at a private hospital but Covaxin is not available. From the outset, private hospitals have been stocking more of Covishield that is in high demand. The private hospitals are of the view that no one is ready to pay for the reserve dose and that there is no need to buy Covaxin and to end up in crisis.