E-Paper
Over 94% people given first dose Covid-19 vaccine, aiming 100% immunisation by Feb 2022: Assam CM
“First dose vaccination is around 94-95% (completed). We will complete the first dose this month and go from village to village to verify whether 100% vaccination has been done. If we complete the first dose this month, we will complete the second dose in February,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that around 94% to 95% of the eligible population in the state has been vaccinated with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and the state would achieve 100% first dose coverage by the end of November. Sarma also said at that pace, the state can fully vaccinate its population by February next year.
“First dose vaccination is around 94-95% (completed). We will complete the first dose this month and go from village to village to verify whether 100% vaccination has been done. If we complete the first dose this month, we will complete the second dose in February,” news agency ANI quoted the CM as saying.
Notably, India has set itself the target of vaccinating 100% of its eligible population by the end of December 2021, a deadline that is two months ahead of Sarma’s estimates. As of date, 79% of the eligible adult population in India have been administered at least one dose of the vaccine while 38% have been immunised fully against the disease, Union health ministry said earlier in the day.
The remarks from Sarma came on the day Union minister of health and family welfare Mansukh Mandaviya met with health ministers of states and Union territories (UT) and discussed the measures to strengthen the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ door-to-door vaccination campaign.
Several new suggestions were made during the meeting, the Union health ministry said in a statement. From roping in children to be ambassadors of the vaccination program to running vaccination centres at bus stations, railway stations to ramp up vaccination coverage, several measures were discussed during the review meeting.
As of 8.20pm on Wednesday (November 10), 29,490,198 doses of the vaccine, comprising 20,359,823 first doses and 9,130,375 second doses, have been administered in Assam, a state health department bulletin showed. Also 263 new Covid cases and one related death on Wednesday, took the state’s tally to 613,061 and the death toll reached 6,035. The state also has 1,932 active cases of the disease.
