Only 0.37 per cent of adults have taken 3rd Covid jab in Telangana state

HYDERABAD:  The adult population in the State isn’t eager to take the Covid-19 precautionary dose as only 0.37 per cent of the people aged between 18-59 have taken the third jab. Experts said two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine helped in tackling Omicron and if at all there is any fourth wave, the precautionary dose will safeguard the public.

As of June 11, approximately 8.71 lakh people i.e. only 0.3 per cent of the 2.76 crore targeted population were inoculated with precautionary dose, according to the data provided by the office of the Director of Public Health (DPH), Telangana government. Out of this, 86,121 doses were administered to the adult population aged between 18-59 while over 7 lakh were given to people above 60 years and healthcare and front-line workers.

“The immunity against Covid-19 might have gone to its lowest level as most of the people have taken the first two doses of vaccines approximately a year ago,” said Dr BR Shamanna, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Hyderabad.  In this case, an infection caused by any of the new variants is new to the body and it is necessary for all to take the precautionary dose, especially for those above 60 years, in order to reduce the severity of the infection, he added.

No slots in pvt hospitals
When checked on the CoWin portal, there are no vaccination centres available for booking in private hospitals for the next three months. Only four slots were available for `386 at the Aster Prime Hospital on September 30. Another private hospital in Gachibowli stopped the booking a couple of weeks ago when a lot of vaccines expired as people were not turning up for them. The bookings in the hospital are likely to resume on Monday.

“Vaccination cases have come down because most people either have got infected with Covid-19 or have got their first and second doses of the vaccine,” said DPH Dr Srinivas Rao.We are trying to increase the number through vaccination drives, he added.