Lack of enough Covid vaccine doses is triggering long queues for jabs at inoculation centres run by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

Long queues are forming despite the CMC’s decision, prompted by lack of enough supplies, not to vaccinate anyone between 18 and 44 years other than those in priority groups.

“We are not able to open the vaccination to everyone who is 18 or above because there is not enough supply of doses. As of now we are restricting vaccination in the 18-44 age group to the priority groups,” Firhad Hakim, the chairperson of the CMC’s board of administrators, told Metro on Monday evening.

“We cannot even commit when we will be able to vaccinate everyone in the 18-44 age group because we have not yet received the schedule of supply. We are getting small volumes of vaccines every day and that is not enough to open vaccination to everyone 18 and above,” Hakim said.

On Monday, winding queues were seen outside CMC vaccination clinics at Star theatre, Uttam Mancha and several other centres. People queued up since early in the morning to ensure they did not miss out on getting the jab.

As demand is far outstripping supply, not everyone in the queue is getting the shot.

Abhijit Dey, 32, visited two health clinics of the CMC at Muchibazar, near Ultadanga, on Monday. “When I reached one of the clinics at 10am, there were already 250 people in the queue. Some of them told me I had a slim chance of getting the vaccine today,” said Dey, an app cab driver.

He then went to Star theatre, where only people in priority groups are being vaccinated. Dey could get the jab there.

Many of those who assembled outside Star theatre, and other centres meant for vaccinating priority groups, did not belong to any such group. They were just hoping that the CMC would start vaccinating everyone in the 18-44 age group.

The priority groups in the 18-44 segment include transport workers, employees at shops in markets and malls, sex workers, transgenders, drivers and conductors of buses and domestic help.

Apart from the priority segments in the 18-44 age group, the CMC clinics are vaccinating everyone who is 45 or above.

Ajay Chakraborty, state’s director of health services, echoed Hakim.

“There is still a shortage of vaccine doses and we are giving priority to the specially identified groups. We are going to see how many doses we get so that we can vaccinate all people above 18,” said Chakraborty.

Officials and doctors of the CMC said the civic body was vaccinating various groups from different centres:

The ward health clinics are vaccinating those who are 45 and above. The priority groups are being vaccinated from dedicated centres, such as Star theatre.

Five centres — Bidhan Sishu Udyan in Ultadanga, St Xavier’s College on Park Street, Roxy cinema in Esplanade, South City International School on Prince Anwar Shah Road and Quest Mall near Park Circus — will take bookings through the WhatsApp chatbot.