Haryana steps on pedal to accelerate vax drive, 26 lakh got shots last week

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana health authorities seem to have pressed the pedal on vaccination, administering an impressive 26.27 lakh coronavirus vaccine doses last week even as the number of weekly infections touched another all-time low at 88.

About 70% of the vaccine shots administered last week were the first doses. Additional chief secretary (ACS, health) Rajeev Arora said last week’s vaccination was the highest ever in a week in Haryana.

“We intend to continue this momentum and hope to achieve the first dose target quickly. The fast-paced vaccination in state is also due to the increased supply of vaccine from the central government,”

Arora said.

The tempo seems to be continuing this week as more than 5.53 lakh doses including 3.80 lakh first dose were administered on the first two days of this week.

Data showed that vaccinators across state inoculated 6.05 lakh persons on September 15, 5.12 lakh on September 13, 3.69 lakh on September 14, 3.63 lakh on September 17, 3.17 lakh on September 17, 3.07 lakh on September 18, and 1.50 lakh on September 19.

The state also crossed the two-crore inoculation mark last week, vaccinating more than 1.50 crore persons with the first dose.

Meanwhile, the virus infection trajectory in Haryana continued its downward journey for the 19th consecutive week. The deadly second wave of the virus transmission during a six-week period in April and May had resulted in over 4.21 lakh infections and over 4,200 fatalities.

The decline in infection spread which started in the second week of May has continued since then.

Health department statistics show that the state has registered a record low of 88 cases in each of the last two weeks (September 6-12 and September 13-19). Also, 19 of 22 districts have less than 10 or no active case.

It’s due to the increased supply of vaccine from the central government RAJEEV ARORA, ACS, health