Hry nears 1cr jabs, but just 5% got two doses

Gurgaon: Nearly one crore people in Haryana have received the Covid-19 vaccine so far, but the state’s second-dose coverage remains abysmally low.
Based on Census 2011, Haryana’s total projected population is 2.92 crore. As many as 95.1 lakh people, or roughly 32%, have received first doses. A little over 16 lakh people, or just 5.4%, have been fully vaccinated with both the doses.
According to health department data, 81,00,329 doses of Covishield have been administered so far (69,15,225 first doses and 11,85,104 second doses) while 14,02,163 have received Covaxin (9,80,823 first doses and 4,21,340 second doses). A total of 7,288 people in the state have got their first doses of Sputnik. Unsurprisingly, Covaxin’s second dose coverage (30%) is higher than Covishield’s (14%) as the gap between the two doses is less.
Gurgaon accounts for nearly 16% of the state’s total vaccinations and has administered 14,97,131 vaccines so far. Of these, 12,81,224 people received Covishield (10,90,208 first doses and 1,91,016 second doses) and 2,12,812 others got Covaxin (1,36,464 first doses and 76,348 second doses). A total of 3,095 people got their first doses of Sputnik. Thus, 15.3% of Gurgaon’s projected population of 17,46,998 has been fully vaccinated while 85.5% of people have received at least one dose.
When asked about the slow pace of second dose coverage, Rajeev Arora, ACS (health), Haryana, said the state had seen the maximum number of vaccinations in the past one month and, therefore, those who received the first doses were not yet eligible for the next. “Haryana has also got more Covishield than Covaxin, thus many people are still not due for their second jabs. There is a gap of 84 days between the first and second doses of Covishield. Hence, second-dose coverage is low,” Arora said.
He added, “We have mapped out a plan for vaccination. We are concentrating on rural areas now and all the districts will target more sessions there. The camps will also provide transportation to recipients so that we can achieve full coverage. There is still a large population in the 18-44 age group which needs to be inoculated.”
Arora said the focus at present is to vaccinate people who have already taken the first dose. “We are setting up dedicated vaccination sites across Haryana for second-dose recipients,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Centre on Wednesday directed all states to ensure that private hospitals apply through Co-WIN for vaccine requirements.
“The vaccine status will be streamlined within two-three days. Private hospitals that raise the demand will get their stock within 48 hours. The manufacturing units can deliver to the hospital directly. We will oversee the entire process,” said Dr Virender Ahlawat, state immunisation officer.