Odisha leads with 83 per cent COVID vaccination coverage

BHUBANESWAR: Healthcare workers receiving the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines outnumbered the target for the consecutive second day on Friday taking the State to the top slot. With a cumulative coverage of 83 per cent (pc), the highest so far among the States, Odisha is leading the vaccination drive by surpassing Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana that too have been putting up record performance.

Although in terms of number of beneficiaries vaccinated till 6 pm, Karnataka topped the chart with 1,82,503 HCWs getting the jab, followed by Andhra Pradesh (1,27,726) and Odisha (1,21004), in terms of percentage of coverage Odisha is at the driver’s seat.

Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said the vaccination coverage has been satisfactory as despite one day off the State has covered maximum number of beneficiaries. While all other states conducted the sessions for all seven days so far, Odisha Government had decided not to carry out the drive on Sunday to observe the adverse events after immunisation. “Districts have been advised to counsel the beneficiaries who are in double mind to take the jab. The total number of beneficiaries has gone up to 3.48 lakh and we hope to cover most of them by end of this month,” he added.