Andhra Pradesh claims a record for most number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in a single day anywhere in the country: more than 1.3 million (13 lakh) on June 20. Officials at the State Covid Command and Control Centre, who made the claim, said 13,74,213 vaccinations were administered in 2,200 locations across the State’s 13 districts on June 20, which was more than double the 6,28,961 vaccinations in a day achieved during the ‘Tika Utsav’ held in April.
As of the morning of June 21, Andhra Pradesh has administered the vaccine to a total of 1,39,45,472 people, with 27,39,491 of them receiving both doses. The Andhra Pradesh vaccination programme, as in other parts of India, had kicked off on January 16. Talking to Frontline , officials of the Covid Command Centre said that the achievement demonstrated that the State’s medical infrastructure was fully geared to achieve vaccination targets of more than one million a day if the Central government could ensure supply of vaccine doses in time and in numbers.
Jawahar Reddy, Chairman of the State Covid Command and Control Centre, speaking of the “remarkable achievement”, said the 13,74,213 number represented nearly half the total number of vaccinations conducted across India on June 20. He marked out the District Collectors of West Godavari (1,55,778), Visakhapatnam (1,11,556), East Godavari (1,54,223), Krishna (1,38,818), Visakhapatnam (1,11,556), and Guntur (1,05,956) for special praise for crossing 1,00,000 doses in their districts. Chittoor and Prakasam districts, were tantalisingly close to that mark with 99,729 and 98,070 doses respectively.
According to officials at the Covid Command and Control Centre, the State administered the first dose to 56.63 per cent of people aged 45 years and above. The health authorities are now focussed on vaccinating the remaining population in this age bracket. Another section that the State health officials are focusing on is women with children aged below five years. Officials estimate that around 5,63,000 of approximately 18,55,000 mothers with children aged below five years have already been given the first dose.
As per the CoWIN website, in Andhra Pradesh, out of the 1,39,45,472 doses administered until June 21, the 45 to 60 age group has been the largest beneficiary, accounting for 55,01,405 doses. The above 60 age group has received 31,58,994 doses, while the 18 to 44 category has been administered 25,43,114 doses.
Andhra Pradesh, as of June 20, had 63,068 active cases. The total number of cases in the State was 18,50,563 with 12,319 fatalities. The State reported 5,646 fresh cases from one lakh tests on June 20, with 50 persons succumbing to the coronavirus. Among the districts, East Godavari saw 1,098 new infections, Chittoor 890, West Godavari 761, and Krishna 441 during the 24-hour period ending June 20. The remaining nine districts reported fewer than 400 fresh cases. During the week June 14–20, the State had a test positivity ratio of 5.8 per cent.
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