The vaccination for 18-45 years age group in Odisha will first begin in five urban centres of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Berhampur that have reported high Covid-19 test positivity rate (TPR). The additional chief secretary of health, PK Mohapatra, briefed district collectors, municipal commissioners and chief district medical officers among others in this regard underlining that prioritisation was being done due to low supply of vaccines. One lakh doses of Covishield was received by the state on Saturday.
Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur have TPR of around 25%; Rourkela in Sundargarh has over 50%, while Berhampur has over 15% TPR. Currently, the 18-44 age group is being vaccinated only in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation area, where 42,660 have received Covaxin shots since May 1. When the vaccine supply improves, this group will be vaccinated in other districts of the state too, Mohapatra said.
Till Saturday, Odisha has administered 6,148,532 doses of Covid vaccine including 51 lakh doses to those older than 45 years and over 10 lakh to healthcare and frontline workers. Residents in the 18-44 years age group are being vaccinated at government centres between 8 AM to 1 PM at Bhubaneswar while those above 45 years have been slotted between 3 PM and 6 PM.
Odisha has decided to vaccinate over 1.93 crore people in the age group of 18-44 years free of cost with a proposed expenditure of over ₹2,000 crores. Private hospitals can take ₹100 per dose as service charge but it will be completely free at govt vaccination centres.
{{/usCountry}}Odisha has decided to vaccinate over 1.93 crore people in the age group of 18-44 years free of cost with a proposed expenditure of over ₹2,000 crores. Private hospitals can take ₹100 per dose as service charge but it will be completely free at govt vaccination centres.
{{/usCountry}}To speed up the vaccination drive and decongest existing inoculation centres, the state government on Friday started ‘Drive in Vaccination’ in Bhubaneswar where 400 people in the age group of 45+ years were jabbed at the parking area of a mall. The government also plans to start vaccination in stadiums to ensure social distancing, maintaining which is currently a challenge at the existing vaccination centres.
On Friday, Odisha reported 12,238 new Covid cases, its highest single-day surge ever amid a high TPR of over 24.