The district has a population of about 46 lakh and the administration is aiming to vaccinate 30-35 lakh in the next two to three months, as health experts opine that only then herd immunity can be developed and the COVID-19 pandemic can be brought under control.
But so far the vaccination rate has not been as desired and efforts are on to motivate more numbers to take the jab. “We need to vaccinate at least 70-75% of the population to develop herd immunity, so that we can bring things under control,” says District COVID Special Officer and principal of Andhra Medical College Dr. P.V. Sudhakar. Keeping that in view, the government has opened counters for all persons above 45 years of age.
The nation-wide vaccination drive began on January 16, and so far the response has been lukewarm. In the first phase, the vaccination drive was for health workers and the district listed about 32,000, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, technicians and ANMs.
As per the District Immunology Officer Dr. Jeevan Rani, in the first phase the vaccination rate was around 75% and in the second phase, which was for those aged above 45 with comorbidities, the rate was around 45%. “Time has come that we take it to 75-80%,” she says.
The district administration has already readied over 200 session sites (vaccination sites) and now the ward sachivalayams have also been roped in. Need be, they can scale it up to 500 and depute around 2,500 staff for the drive, says a senior officer from the District Immunology Department.
Special drives
According to District Collector V. Vinay Chand, to step up the programme special drives have been initiated and to begin with the drive is being taken up at all government departments and central public sector undertakings (CPSUs). “We have asked all CPSUs to provide us the space and we will go there and provide the vaccine,” he says.
Dr. Sudhakar points out that the need of the hour is to open it up for all segments and take up the drive aggressively, even at colleges and educational institutions, where students are above 18 years of age.
Dr. Jeevan Rani confirms that there is no dearth of vaccines and both Covaxin and Covishield stocks are available in adequate quantities. “More importantly, we have reduced the wastage and replenishment is being done from time to time. We also have the required infrastructure such as cold chains and freezer boxes to store the vaccines,” she explains.
