HYDERABAD: Though administration of second dose Covid-19 vaccine is moving slowly in the state for the adult eligible population, it, however, has gathered pace for young population between the ages of 15 and 17 with approximately 13% of them having received the second dose.
The inoculation drive for this age group began on January 3 and 73% of eligible teenagers have received their first dose. Three districts — Hanmakonda, Mahbubnagar and Khammam — have completed providing 100% first dose coverage to those who qualify.
Covaxin second dose is administered after 28 days of the first dose, while youngsters who received their first dose during the first few days of the drive are eligible for the second dose in the first week of this month. About 13% of the teenagers quickly took their second dose.
Second dose vaccination rates are the highest in Mahbubnagar (53%), Wanaparthy (38%) and Yadadri Bhuvanagiri (33%). In this age group, nearly 18 lakh people are found to be vaccine eligible.
On the other hand, while first dose coverage exceeds 100% and the state is among the first to complete the coverage, second dose coverage is moving at a snail’s pace in a few areas.
“This is primarily due to second dose technical issues. In some cases, people have forgotten their mobile numbers linked with the CoWin portal. In other cases, people are still not receiving messages on their phones despite having completed requesting due to the gap between the first and second doses,” officials explained.
Currently, 88% of the eligible adult population has received their second dose. Only 14 of the 33 districts completed more than 90% of the second dose jabs. Vikarabad (68%) and Kumuram Bheem Asifabad (65%) have not completed even 70% of second dose coverage.
It has also been reported that second dose coverage is slower in rural areas than in urban and semi-urban areas.
