Kerala to conduct mass inoculation drive from today as Covid-19 cases high

The drive has been launched to vaccinate as many people as possible said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The mass inoculation drive will go on till August 31. Vijayan urged commercial institutions and public organizations to arrange vaccines for local people.

The Kerala government will hold a mass inoculation drive across the state starting from Monday in view of the high number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases. The drive will go on till August 31, according to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Kerala is struggling to strike a balance between saving lives and protecting livelihoods amid a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases. (PTI File Photo)

The focus will be on inoculating final year degree students, PG students, lower primary and upper primary teachers. The first dose of vaccination for senior citizens will be completed by August 15. Patients with comorbidity will be vaccinated at home.

Vijayan had said that the state government will make more Covid-19 vaccine available to the private sector. "The state government will buy 20 lakh doses of vaccines and provide them to private hospitals at the same rate," he had said in a statement on Saturday.

All this is being done, the chief minister said, to vaccinate as many people as possible. He also urged commercial institutions and public organizations to arrange vaccines for local people.

Kerala health minister Veena George announced last week said that over 1.5 crore people (15 million) in the state have been inoculated with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, accounting for 42.82 per cent of Kerala's population.

This will be applicable on both workers and visitors coming to the state.

Kerala recorded 18,607 cases of Covid-19 on Sunday. This was first time in a week that the daily caseload came below 20,000. The positivity rate stands at 13.87 per cent, according to state government's health department.