Odisha: Over 10 lakh vax doses administered in 45 days

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has administered over 10 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines to healthcare and frontline workers, senior citizens and people with comorbidities in the last 45 days.The Health and Family Welfare department said more than 10 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin have been administered from January 16 to March 10, excluding holidays and Village Health and Nutrition Day.

While the first five lakh doses were given in 30 days, the next five lakh were administered in a fortnight. As many as 3,271 beneficiaries, including 2,282 elderly persons, got the jab on Thursday taking the total number of beneficiaries to 10,17,048.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik commended the hardwork and dedication of frontline Covid warriors for successfully administering more than 10 lakh doses of vaccines to eligible beneficiaries.

Odisha is among 13 states which have administered second dose to more than 80 per cent (pc) of the eligible healthcare workers. However, the State has recorded less vaccination coverage in private facilities as compared to national average.Only around 21 pc beneficiaries opted for private healthcare facilities for vaccination against the national average of 29 pc. 

Meanwhile, Odisha’s Covid-19 caseload surged to 3,37,992 after 63 more people tested positive in last 24 hours. The new cases were detected in 14 districts. Mayurbhanj district reported the highest of 14 new cases followed by Cuttack (11) and seven cases each in Sundargarh and Balasore.The State currently has 614 active cases while 3,35,408 patients have so far recovered and 1,970 succumbed.