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34.4% prisoners got 1st dose of Covid vaccine, 4.6% got both: Govt

ByUmar Sofi
Aug 06, 2021 04:54 PM IST

In response to a question asked by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Aparajita Sarangi in Lok Sabha, the minister for health and family welfare Mansukh Mandaviya gave a state-wise list of all the prisoners vaccinated by the government

The government on Friday said that states and union territories across the country have vaccinated at least 165,108 prisoners with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and over 22,345 with the second dose. The total number of inmates in prisons across the country, until February this year, was 478,600, according to a government answer in Rajya Sabha.

Prisoners board a vehicle after being vaccinated for Covid-19. (Representational image/PTI)
Prisoners board a vehicle after being vaccinated for Covid-19. (Representational image/PTI)

So, at least 34.4% of prisoners have received the first dose of the vaccine, and just 4.6% have received both doses.

In response to a question asked by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Aparajita Sarangi in Lok Sabha, the minister for health and family welfare Mansukh Mandaviya gave a state-wise list of all the prisoners vaccinated by the government. He said that the vaccination of prisoners is included and recorded under the vaccination of “Persons without Prescribed Identity Cards.”

Also Read | India has administered at least 490 million Covid vaccine doses till now

This, he said, includes “nomads, prison inmates, inmates in mental health institutions, citizens in old age homes, roadside beggars, people residing in rehabilitation centres/camps and any other identified eligible persons, aged 18 years or more, and not having any of the nine prescribed individual Photo ID Cards.”

He reiterated that the Centre expected to vaccinate all eligible beneficiaries aged 18 years and above, including prisoners, by December 2021.

In the state-wise list provided by Mandaviya, one of the states with the highest rate of vaccination of prisoners seems to be Mahararashtra, one of the states hardest hit by the pandemic. Of its 36,798 prisoners, Maharashtra has vaccinated 21,868 with the first dose and 1,183 with both doses--which means it has vaccinated 59.4% of inmates with the first dose and 3.2% with both doses.

Uttar Pradesh, one of the most populated states, has vaccinated 24,230 of its 101,297 prisoners with the first dose and 2,789 people with both, which means it vaccinated 23.9% with the first dose of the vaccine and just 2.7% with both doses.

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