Gujarat: 100% eligible population in Surat city inoculated with first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) achieved the target of vaccinating 34.33 lakh eligible beneficiaries with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, the official said.

Moneycontrol News

October 06, 2021 / 02:22 PM IST

(Image: Reuters)

Gujarat's Surat city has inoculated 100 percent of its eligible population with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, a senior civic official said on Wednesday.

The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) achieved the target of vaccinating 34.33 lakh eligible beneficiaries with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, the official said.

"Surat has administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 100 percent of eligible beneficiaries. To the best of our knowledge, Surat has become the first among the country's big cities, with population of over 50 lakh, to achieve this target," deputy municipal commissioner, (Health), SMC, Ashish Naik told PTI.

According to the data released by the civic body, the second dose of the vaccine has been administered to around 48.4 percent, or 16.61 lakh beneficiaries so far.

The SMC had achieved the goal by setting up vaccination camps, targeting workplaces, housing societies, and seeking active support from the medical fraternity to encourage people to get their jabs, the official said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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