Telangana was forced to halt its vaccination drive on Sunday after being hit by shortage of Covid- 19 vaccines even as the state saw a massive spike in its daily cases surpassing 5,000 mark. There were also complaints of lack of beds and inadequate oxygen supply in Hyderabad as cases continue to spike, particularly in the gated communities.

The state today reported 5,093 cases with 15 deaths. There are some 37,037 active cases currently according to the latest health bulletin.

For the past week the state was reporting shortage of vaccines and many people who were scheduled to take their second dose of vaccine found their appointments cancelled.

State health minister Eatela Rajender said: “The state has the ability to vaccinate 10 lakh people a day but the vaccination process had to be halted.”

He added that state will receive 2.7 lakh doses of vaccine by tonight and vaccination programme will resume from Monday. The Centre has been supplying vaccines based on production levels and requirement of various states, said the minister. The state health officials are in regular touch with the central officials over vaccine supply and hoped that the matter will be resolved soon.

The minister has also suggested that those above the age of 25 should also be vaccinated but is yet to receive any response from the Union government. Relatives of Covid-19 patients are also having a tough time procuring oxygen cylinders and concentrators as the demand has gone up tremendously in the past few days.

Mr Rajender pointed out this too was an issue which has to be resolved by the Centre as the states cannot just ramp up its oxygen production on their own. The state currently requires 260 tons of oxygen daily which could increase to some 300-350 ton. However, he assured that there are adequate beds in government run facilities.

However, as private hospitals are running out of Covid- 19 beds those needing hospitalisation were facing a tough time to get admission. The minister however said this problem was limited to some 5-6 hospitals.

He also said that more than half of the beds in corporate hospitals were occupied by patients from neighbouring states such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh due to Hyderabad’s reputation as a healthcare hub.