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Bihar overshot other states in single-day shots on June 16
PATNA Bihar achieved a small milestone on Wednesday when it not only recorded its highest ever single-day Covid-19 vaccinations, but also shot to top position in the country, at least for the day
PATNA
Bihar achieved a small milestone on Wednesday when it not only recorded its highest ever single-day Covid-19 vaccinations, but also shot to top position in the country, at least for the day.
Officials said more than 6.62 lakh doses were administered in the state on Wednesday, though the CoWIN portal, through which vaccination is monitored, recorded 5.03 lakh doses.
Officials said some information on inoculations done on Wednesday was uploaded past midnight and this it reflected in Thursday’s vaccination figures.
On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh administered 3.64 lakh doses, Madhya Pradesh 3.38 lakh, Tamil Nadu 3.35 lakh and Maharashtra 2.34 lakh, as per the CoWIN dashboard.
Bihar’s previous highest single-day vaccination was on April 10 when 3.60 lakh doses were administered to beneficiaries.
The Centre had pulled up Bihar for its low vaccination in the past.
Bihar is the second last state after Uttar Pradesh in terms of vaccination. It has inoculated around 18% of its 7.22 crore target population, most having been administered the first dose only so far. As many as 4.78 crore people in the 18-45 years age group and another 2.44 crore have to be vaccinated against coronavirus.
State health officials, however, defended themselves, saying the supply of vaccines from the Centre was insufficient, which resulted in low vaccination coverage.
Though supply of vaccines has increased every month since the national Covid-19 vaccination drive began on January 16, it dipped in May as compared to the vaccines made available in April, said officials.
Bihar is scheduled to receive 36,47,230 doses of vaccines this month, of which it had already received 1,28,17,460 till Wednesday. Another 6 lakh doses of vaccine were scheduled to arrive, which would leave the state with a stock of 13 lakh doses of vaccine.
Amid flood fears, Bihar is desperate to speed up its vaccination drive. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has already asked officials to complete inoculating the remaining six crore people in the next six months.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on 16 January this year. The vaccination of healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) began from February 2. The second phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. The third phase was rolled out from April 1.
Executive director State Health Society, Bihar, Manoj Kumar, also the state’s nodal officer for vaccination, did not respond to phone calls or text message.
