Special Covid vaccination drive saw merely 10% of total beneficiaries getting jabbed in Maharashtra: Data
The special immunization drive saw a mere 10 per cent beneficiaries getting the booster shot against coronavirus disease in Maharashtra from July 15-September 29. The special drive was taken up as a part of the 75-day-long nationwide Covid vaccine drive to mark the Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. The drive will end on September 30.
As a part of the campaign, free precaution doses were administered at government Covid Vaccination Centres for persons aged 18 years and above.
In Maharashtra, more than five crore beneficiaries were eligible for booster doses but the special immunization drive saw only 10 per cent (47 lakh) taking the precautionary dose, said health department officials. “The campaign, however, was successful in getting more than five lakh citizens, who had not taken any shot of Covid-19 vaccines, jabbed while over 11 lakh got their second doses,” they added.
Talking to The Indian Express, Maharashtra immunization officer Dr Sachin Desai said, “Overall, around 65 lakh beneficiaries across Maharashtra participated in the special drive and took their booster, first and second doses.”
There were 1.7 crore beneficiaries who were due for the second shot of Covid vaccines and as a part of the drive, the authorities were able to reach out to more than 11 lakh persons to complete the protocol of being immunised with the second dose. The drive was also able to encourage more than 5 lakh people who had not been immunized at all to get their first shot of Covid-19 vaccines.
State health department authorities admitted that the response was low as the number of fresh Covid cases had dropped in Maharashtra. “Around 500 new Covid-19 cases are being reported daily now. There are several people who had contracted Covid-19 and hence feel they have immunity against the disease. As a result, the response to take the precautionary dose wasn’t high,” a health official said.
According to the officials, Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Nagpur were among the districts that had the maximum number of beneficiaries due for the second and booster doses. In Pune, of the 59 lakh beneficiaries due for the precaution dose, authorities said an approximate 3.2 lakh got jabbed. There were more than 15 lakh beneficiaries in Pune who were due for the second dose. The drive saw the participation of 65,000 beneficiaries who were administered the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while there were 30,000 beneficiaries who took the first shot of Covid-19 vaccines.
Mumbai had an estimated 72 lakh beneficiaries due for the booster shot and as a part of the drive, over four lakh were administered the precautionary dose. More than 10 lakh beneficiaries in Mumbai were due for the second dose of the covid vaccine and around 66,000 took the second shot. Of the 44 lakh beneficiaries due for the precaution dose in Thane around 3.8 lakh took the booster dose while 49,000 took the second dose from among at least 10 lakh who were due.
