Covid-19: Vaccination of over 77,000 targeted by district health department in mega drive

A mega vaccination drive day is scheduled for August 27. About 35,000 people have to be inoculated with the second dose of Covishield and 11,500 with Covaxin at government facilities. In private hospitals, almost 22,000 people have to be given the second jab of Covishield and at least 9,000 need to be given Covaxin

Over 77,500 residents who are to take their second Covid-19 vaccine dose in the last week of August are likely to be covered under a mega vaccination drive day scheduled on August 27, according to the district health department’s estimates. Even as the state health department has set a target of 60,000, the district health department is aiming to cover a higher number of beneficiaries.

As many as 19,584 vaccine shots were given on Wednesday. This includes 12,269 vaccinations at government health centres. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

“About 35,000 people have to be inoculated with the second dose of Covishield and 11,500 with Covaxin at government facilities. In private hospitals, almost 22,000 people have to be given the second jab of Covishield and at least 9,000 need to be given Covaxin,” Dr Virender Yadav, the chief medical officer of Gurugram, said.

The estimate is based on the number of people who were vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccines before June 3, which largely includes people in the 18-45 year age group. As per the target, of the 60,000 doses to be administered, nearly 60% will be given as the second dose and 40% as the first dose.

On Wednesday, the health department opened about 15,000 online slots on the Co-WIN platform for the mega vaccination drive. Of these, at least 2,500 slots are for administering Covaxin and 12,500 for Covishield, at government health centres.

According to Dr MP Singh, district immunisation officer, more than 150 vaccination centres will be set up by the health department, whereas private hospitals will also be having their own session sites to cover the targeted population.

The state administration has planned to vaccinate more than half a million people, focusing on people aged 18-45 years who are awaiting their second vaccine shot, in the mega vaccination drive. Data provided by the health department shows that the overall target for the state is almost 725,000, with 1,500,736 vaccine doses provided to districts.

Currently, Gurugram has over 92,810 vaccine doses in the stock, the highest in the state, followed by Faridabad, which has 85,826 doses. The rest of the districts have 60,000-70,000 doses, said officials.

Until now, 2,243,136 vaccines doses have been administered in Gurugram since January 16, of which 19,584 vaccine shots were given on Wednesday. This includes 12,269 vaccinations at government health centres and 7,315 at private hospitals. On Thursday, at least 8,430 doses will be administered at government facilities through walk-in, of which 3,840 will be for the first dose and 4,590 as a second shot across 48 session sites.