BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Tuesday asked all 30 districts in the state to ensure that at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine is administered to at least 90 per cent of the adult population by this month so that the rest of the eligible beneficiaries are covered by December.
Chairing a review meeting on vaccination, chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra asked the collectors to make village-level plans to cover each eligible individual in the ongoing drive. He asked the districts, particularly those lagging behind the state average, to intensify the inoculation campaign by opening more vaccination centres in the village and gram panchayat level.
Odisha has so far administered total 4.07 crore doses. The overall first dose coverage is 83 per cent with 2.69 crore of the 3.25 crore adult population given at least the first shot. Total 1.37 crore people, which is around 42.3 per cent, have taken both the doses.
Official data shows the first dose vaccination achievement is 90 per cent or more in Bhubaneswar (158 per cent) besides six districts of Sambalpur (96 per cent), Deogarh (95 per cent), remotely located and tribal dominated Malkangiri (94 per cent), Nuapada and Sonepur (both 92 per cent) besides Bhadrak (90 per cent).
The coverage is more than cent per cent in Bhubaneswar because of floating population taking vaccines in the state capital. More than 14 lakh first doses have been administered here against its adult population of 8.84 lakh.
The coverage is poor (75 per cent or less) in Mayurbhanj (75 per cent), Cuttack (74 per cent), Khurda excluding Bhubaneswar (73 per cent), Sundargarh (71 per cent) and Gajapati (69 per cent). The coverage is between 75 per cent and 90 per cent in the rest 19 districts. The government has asked districts lagging behind the state average to take steps on war-footing to catch up with the rest.
National Health Mission state director Shalini Pandit said the supply of vaccine and syringes is sufficient and districts will get more of them as per their demand.
Pandit said because of proper care in storage and transportation, the wastage of vaccine doses was among the least in Odisha. The vaccine waste is around -5.3 per cent in the state, thereby saving around 20 lakh doses.
Sources said the state currently has a stock of around 38 lakh doses of Covishield and 12 lakh doses of Covaxin.
