HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced on Monday (May 24th) that the COVID vaccination programme would resume on Tuesday (May 25th), which could bring some relief to those who have been waiting for their second dose of vaccine.

The Chief Minister urged those who had received the first dose of vaccine and were due for a second dose to visit the government vaccination centres in their region.

Following a serious shortage of vaccines, the Telangana government halted the vaccination campaign a few weeks ago. On May 16th, the government announced that the second dose inoculation drive for people over 45 years old would be halted due to a shortage of the Covaxin vaccine and a lack of new supplies from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Owing to a lack of supplies, it has already halted the first dose of vaccine and has yet to begin prescribing it to people aged 18 to 44.

Those who wanted to get the first injection would have to wait a little longer because those who are waiting for their second shot will be given priority.

The Chief Minister asked finance minister T Harish Rao to prepare new guidelines to recognize Covid-19 super spreaders and organize special vaccination camps for them while directing officials to begin the second dose vaccination programme.

According to a government bulletin, Telangana reported 3,043 COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total to over 5.56 lakh, while the death toll remained at 3,146, with 21 more deaths. The total number of cases in the state was 5,56,320, with 4,693 of them being cured, bringing the total recoveries to 5,13,968.

According to the bulletin, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had the most number of cases (424), followed by Khammam (198) and Medchal Malkajgiri (185).