“The yellow fever vaccine that was in severe shortage has finally arrived”, said the health ministry on Monday. This vaccine would now be available in every government approved centers in within a week.
An official release stated that the vaccine has arrived at the port in Mumbai and would be sent for quality testing and certification in the Central Research Institute in Kasauli.
At present there are only 27 yellow fever vaccination centers in the whole county. And the demand in India for the yellow fever vaccine is over 1.8 lac doses. The yellow fever disease is endemic to 44 countries. India is free from this disease.
People planning to visit any of these countries prone to the disease can get immunity through the vaccine. It is said the breakdown of equipments in the Central Institute of Research in Kas auli and delay in importation by the World Health Organization are the reasons responsible for the shortage of vaccine in the government approved centers.
The vaccinations have been sent to all the government recognized health centers across the four metros on Monday. And regular vaccination in all the respective centers is expected to normalize within a week.
With the availability of the yellow fever vaccination, a sigh of relief is felt across the nation.
