The Delhi government on Wednesday said people under the age of 45 will not get Covaxin shots from Thursday as supplies run short. It added that stocks of Covaxin will last for next four days and those have to be reserved for frontline workers and those above 45.

The Delhi government said it has to prioritise those who received the first dose around four weeks ago. It urged the Centre to ensure uninterrupted supplies.

“Around 16,000 Covaxin doses, which were available in the morning, were administered at 44 centres,” said Aam Aadmi Party MLA Atishi Marlena. “These centres will also be shut after Wednesday evening...there will be no Covaxin doses left for the 18-44 age group after Wednesday evening and all such centres will be temporarily shut.”

Stocks of the other coronavirus vaccine, Covishield, will last nine days, said the ruling Aam Aadmi Party. Atishi said Delhi received 2.67 lakh more doses of Covishield vaccine on May 11.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that Delhi had been forced to shut down over 100 vaccination centres because of lack of Covaxin doses. “Our reserve stock of doses is over,” he had said. “Centres administering the Covishield vaccine are operating.”

Sisodia had claimed that Bharat Biotech, the manufacturer of coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, has refused to supply additional doses to the Capital. “Yesterday, Bharat Biotech wrote to us saying that they were making dispatches as per the directives of concerned officials,” Sisodia had said. “It is clear that they are central government officials. Bharat Biotech said they cannot give us more doses because they have to supply according the Centre’s order.”

India is battling a severe second wave of the coronavirus. Hospitals across the country are struggling with acute shortages of oxygen and other medical supplies. Several states had to defer the third phase of vaccination, covering all above 18 years, due to a scarcity of doses.

On Wednesday, India registered 3,48,421 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections to 2,33,40,938 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. With 4,205 deaths, the toll climbed to 2,54,197. This is the highest single-day rise in the number of deaths so far since the outbreak of the pandemic. There are 37,04,099 active cases, while 1,93,82,642 patients have recovered.