65% population in HP has received 1st jab, says govt
SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh government has vaccinated 65% of its population with Covid vaccine’s first dose, with which the state claims to be the first in the country to have inoculated such a large number of people.
“A recent sero survey’s results have shown that in Kullu, 60% population has achieved immunity,” secretary, health, Amitabh Awasthi said, adding that Himachal will soon achieve the herd immunity.
“As far as vaccination is concerned, 48.5 lakh people (about 64% to 65% of population) have received their first shot of Covid vaccine, while 13 lakh people (about 21% to 22%) have got the second jab. Covid situation is under control in the state, but we are leaving nothing to chance. We are testing nearly 15,000 samples daily and are also ready to deal with the third wave in terms of infrastructure and equipment. By the end of August, we will be ready with all preparations,” he added.
Himachal also claimed to be among those states which have achieved zero percentage vaccine wastage.
‘A good sign for state’
About Kullu’s performance in sero survey, Awasthi said it was a good sign for Himachal Pradesh. The state recorded Covid positivity rate of 0.8% in the week ending on July 26, health officials said.
Director, National Health Mission, Himachal Pradesh, Hemraj Bairwa said there has been a steady decline in corona infections in the state and number of active cases has come down to 858 as on July 26.
He said last week, 85,068 samples were tested for Covid, of which 670 turned out positive, thus registering the positivity rate at 0.8%. He said Mandi, where 153 out of 5,836 samples tested positive, recorded the highest positivity rate of 2.6%.
It was followed by Chamba where 8,701 samples were sent for testing and 175 were detected positive with a positivity rate of 2%. Shimla recorded a positivity rate of 1.2%, while Lahaul and Spiti logged the positivity rate at 1.3%.
However, the number of samples tested there as compared to other districts was considerably low. The remaining eight districts clocked positivity rate below 1%. Sirmaur recorded the lowest positivity rate of 0.04% with only four people testing positive for the virus among 8,132 tested. Bairwa said during the given period, the case fatality ratio was recorded at 1% with seven deaths reported across the state.
183 cases added to Tuesday tally
DHARAMSHALA: Eleven students of Government Polytechnic College in Kangra were among the 183 people who tested positive for Covid in Himachal on Tuesday as the state’s case tally climbed to 2,05,383. The death toll mounted to 3,502 after two more patients succumbed to the contagion. Recoveries reached 2,00,942 after 116 people recuperated while the active cases have again mounted to 923.