A little over 1 crore people in Telangana are yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Around 2.2 crore people in the State are eligible for the vaccination. Of them, 1.12 crore have received their first dose of vaccine and only 30% of those beneficiaries have taken their second dose too.
Health officials said their focus in the next one to two weeks will be on ensuring the second dose is completed. This marks a shift in the Health department’s priority. Around the beginning of July, Director of Public Health G. Srinivasa Rao said that they wish to vaccinate maximum number of people with first dose. It was for this reason that the time interval between two doses of Covishield was increased from 12-16 weeks to 14-16 weeks in Telangana.
The vaccine coverage statistics till July 7 indicate that out of the 1.01 crore people who have received the first dose, 47.86% were from three urban districts — Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri.
Of the 22.32 lakh people who were awaiting their second dose of Covishield, 12.32 lakh were given the jab to complete the vaccination. Around 3.9 lakh people are yet to receive the second dose of Covaxin.
