Over 12 lakh in state missed deadline for second Cov jab

Ranchi: In order to improve the vaccination coverage which has been hit during Navratri, the state health department has directed all deputy commissioners to eliminate the backlog and meet the daily targets.
The order has come in the wake of a national review by the Union health minister on Covid vaccination status on October 9, 2021 in which it was decided to reinvigorate the drive for beneficiaries on priority basis.
According to the state health department records, a total of 12,48,190 beneficiaries across the state are waiting for their second doses, which include 8,61,651 of those who have taken Covishield and 3,86,539 who have taken Covaxin. Giridih and Palamu has the maximum number of overdue beneficiaries which are 1,05,873 and 1,05,457 respectively.
Talking to TOI, additional chief secretary (health) Arun Kumar Singh said, “It has come to our notice that over 12 lakh beneficiaries across various categories are overdue for their vaccine doses during the past 84 days. This has come to the fore as districts haven’t been able to meet their daily targets of vaccination which has been cumulatively set at 3 lakh doses across the state.”
Singh, through a letter, has directed the deputy commissioners to ensure that they meet the daily targets and suggested a slew of measures through which to do so.
According to Singh’s letter, the officials have been asked to do micro planning of eligible beneficiaries above 18 years of age and should work towards bringing them to the nearest vaccine centres. Apart from that, special three-day weekend vaccination drives should be organised in order to improve the numbers and it should be carried out from the district to the panchayat levels.
In order to increase coverage in rural as well as far-off interior areas, the DCs have been asked to utilise the mobile vaccination vans.
Asked whether the gap will affect the efficacy of the vaccine, public health expert and professor of community medicine, Dr Dewesh Kumar, said it would not.