Covid vaccination: GB Nagar achieves over 98% first dose coverage

The district administered 12,125 doses on Tuesday, taking the tally of those who have received at least one dose vaccine to 1,558,532.

More than 98% of those eligible to get the Covid-19 vaccine in Gautam Budh Nagar have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine so far, according to the data released by the district health department.

Gautam Budh Nagar chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Sunil Sharma said now only about 31,000 eligible people are left to get their first shot, after which the district will achieve 100% first dose coverage. (AFP | Representational image)

Officials said while all eligible people in the district would get at least one dose by September, they would receive both doses by the end of November. Currently, Covid-19 vaccinations are open to everyone aged 18 years or more.

The district administered 12,125 doses on Tuesday, taking the tally of those who have received at least one dose vaccine to 1,558,532, the data showed. A total of 1,589,615 people are eligible for vaccination in the district, the officials said.

Gautam Budh Nagar chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Sunil Sharma said now only about 31,000 eligible people are left to get their first shot, after which the district will achieve 100% first dose coverage. “If the vaccination drive continues at the same pace (about 12,000 doses a day), everyone in the district will get at least one dose vaccine by the end of September. But as we are regularly holding mega vaccination drives – usually once a week – this target is likely to be achieved much before that,” he said.

The CMO also said now the district health department is focusing on administering second doses. “So far, we’ve administered as many as 495,785 second doses to beneficiaries, which is about 31% of those eligible. But we aim to administer both doses to 100% eligible population by November,” he said.

Dr Neeraj Tyagi, district immunisation officer, said the age group of 18-45 years is leading in terms of number of jabs. “Of the 2.05 million doses administered in the district so far, nearly 1.4 million have been administered to this age group. While 444,912 doses have been administered to the 45-60 age group, the remaining 248,302 doses have been administered to those aged 60 years or more,” he said.

“The percentage of adverse effect following immunisation (AEFI) cases reported in the district so far is 0.002%, which is less than the state’s average of 0.003%,” Tyagi said.