In Dakshina Kannada, 84% of target population gets first dose

With 5.3 lakh doses administered in the past 25 days – about 73,000 doses in the past week alone – Dakshina Kannada is steaming towards achieving 100% first dose vaccination coverage in the district.
More than 15 lakh or 84% of the total 18 lakh target population has received the first dose and 6.3 lakh people are fully inoculated (both doses). At the current pace, district authorities believe they will likely cover the entire population (100%) under the first dose within two or three weeks.
“The mega vaccination drive on September 17 and melas on Wednesdays, have helped increase overall vaccination penetration,” said Dr BV Rajesh, district reproductive child health (RCH) officer, Dakshina Kannada. “We administered 1.4 lakh doses of vaccines during the mega vaccination drive and there is a vaccine mela every Wednesday. We have administered nearly 30,000 doses at Wednesday melas. We have already achieved 100% first dose coverage in two categories: People above 60 years, and frontline workers battling the pandemic.”
He said 97% of beneficiaries in the 45-59 age group have taken the first dose, and 55% of them have received the second dose as well. “Similarly, in the healthcare workers category, 97% of them have received the first dose, and 69% of them have taken the second dose. The district has also administered the first dose to 70% of the target population in the 18-44 years group,” he said. He said the latter achievement is significant considering the vaccination drive was extended to the 18-44 category in the district only in May.