Bihar gets 8 lakh more doses of Covid vaccines
ABOUT 24% POPULATION IN RURAL PATNA HAS RECEIVED FIRST DOSE AS COMPARED TO OVER 70% IN URBAN AREAS
PATNA: The Centre has sent eight lakh doses of Covishield to Bihar in addition to its promised 32.16 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin during the fortnight ending August 4, officials said on Monday. The state aims to vaccinate 4,54,000 residents daily to meet its target of inoculating the adult population of 72.2 million by December 31.
The state received 34.28 lakh vaccine doses in the first fortnight of July.
“We received 8 lakh doses of vaccines last on Friday. As of now, we are taking them as additional supplies to the 32.16 lakh doses communicated to us for the period between July 16 and August 4. Our target is to vaccinate maximum people in as less time as possible so that the Centre replenishes our stock before the vaccines are exhausted,” Manoj Kumar, executive director, State Health Society, Bihar, said on Sunday.
Bihar plans to first vaccinate the eligible urban population, which is more willing to take
the jab, before moving to rural areas, where people are not as keen as those in urban areas. So far, the state has administered 2.09 crore vaccine doses against its target population of 7.22 crore. Of this, 1.77 crore have been administered the first dose while 31.53 lakh have taken the second dose. Capital city Patna, with an approximate target population of 43.48 lakh, contributes to 11% of the total doses administered in the state so far.
“The government’s focus is to first target the low-hanging fruits before moving up. We will shift our focus to the rural population, which is fast shedding reluctance towards vaccination once the willing urban population has been administered the first dose,” said a health official.
Patna, for instance, hopes to administer the first dose to all its eligible urban adults by July 25.
“We have achieved over 70% first dose vaccination in urban Patna and hope to complete inoculating the remaining population by July 25, subject to availability of vaccines. The thrust will then shift to rural areas,” said Patna district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh.
“In addition to static session sites, we are deploying one vaccination van in each of the 75 municipal wards of Patna to complete the first dose vaccination of the adult target population here by July 25,” said Singh.
About 24% population in rural Patna has received first dose as compared to over 70% in urban areas. Rural Patna has a target population of 29.12 lakh against 14.36 lakh in urban Patna.