The Chief Minister today chaired a review meeting of the Covid-19 situation in the state.
The Assam government has decided to stop administering the first dose of Covaxin due to short supply.
Informing the media of the decision at a press meet in Guwahati today, Assam Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said, "We have 3.2 lakh Covishield and 20,000 Covaxin doses in our stock. Another 50,000 doses of Covaxin will be available within the week. We need 1.50 lakh more (shots of) Covaxin to administer the second dose."
"Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma went to New Delhi to discuss the procurement of more vaccines for Assam," Mr Mahanta added.
The minister said vaccination drives will be conducted more aggressively in six districts. These districts are Kamrup Metro, where state capital Dispur and main city Guwahati is located, Nagaon, Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Cachar.
"We are administering 50,000 vaccine doses everyday till date. We are targeting to give at least 70,000 doses daily," the minister said.
However, at many centres in Assam, vaccination has been stopped due to a shortage of doses.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sarma today chaired a review meeting of the Health Department and took stock of the Covid-19 situation in the state. During the meeting, he directed the department not to allow home quarantine for patients with comorbidities, irrespective of the age group they are in, and refer them to institutional quarantine.
In view of the decline in positivity rate and death rate, the Chief Minister expressed hope that the situation will improve substantially over the next few weeks.
The meeting discussed Covid treatment costs in private hospitals and the state government capped the maximum rates private healthcare units can charge for treatment in wards and ICUs.
The Chief Minister also reviewed the status of paediatric ICUs which are being set up at various government hospitals and the functioning of oxygen plants in the state. He directed authorities to ramp up the vaccination exercise in the state.