Special drive in Andhra Pradesh helps fully vaccinate nearly 10 per cent of population

Published : Jul 28, 2021 20:46 IST

People wait to get their dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a centre in Vijayawada on July 26.

People wait to get their dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a centre in Vijayawada on July 26.

With the number of new daily COVID-19 infections in Andhra Pradesh hovering around the 2,000 mark and the threat of a third wave a near certainty, the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government has ramped up its vaccination programme, organising special vaccination drives.

Making full use of the State’s grassroots health governance system of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and village and ward volunteers, the government has been able to identify unvaccinated people and vaccinate them; the State has so far fully vaccinated almost 10 per cent of its total population. Until July 27, just a shade over 30 per cent of the State’s population has been administered at least one COVID-19 dose.

Speaking to Frontline , senior officials in the Andhra Pradesh Health Department said that vaccinating as many people as possible was the only way to combat the spread of COVID-19 infection. Officials made a special reference to volunteers in the State’s health system, wherein each volunteer undertakes multiple fever surveys across the State and is tasked with taking government services and schemes to 50 households.

On July 27, Andhra Pradesh administered 1,54,493 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2,228 vaccination centres (2,155 government and 73 private). But the number pales into insignificance when the previous day’s drive is taken into consideration. On July 26, the Health Department in a special drive that went on until 11 in the night across the State’s 13 districts, vaccinated as many as 12,02,863 people. Of these, 8,31,325 doses were administered to people taking their first jab, while 3,71,538 doses were administered to people taking their second shot of the vaccine. Five districts vaccinated more than one lakh people each. East Godavari topped the districts with 1.92 lakh inoculations, followed by Chittoor (1.18 lakh), Anantapur (1.1 lakh), West Godavari (1.08 lakh) and Visakhapatnam (1.07 lakh). Among the other districts, Guntur vaccinated 97,083 people, Nellore 96,508, Krishna 94,162, Prakasam 87,226, Kurnool 62,074, Kadapa 41,894 and Vizianagaram 9,883.

As of July 28, Andhra Pradesh had administered over two crore doses (2,10,14,270) of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines. While 1,58,57,168 people had received their first dose, 51,57,102 had received both doses.

Officials from the Health Department said more such special drives have been planned “as and when the vaccine doses arrive from the Centre”. Officials are monitoring closely the daily positivity rate, which as of July 27 stood at 2.80 per cent. The State’s caseload as of the early hours of July 28 has dropped to 20,999.

Speaking after a review meeting Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy said: “COVID-19 is something we will have to learn to live with and vaccination is the only solution.” He quickly added that vaccination was not entirely in his government’s hands. “Only what the State is allocated we are able to use,” he said.

Sign in to Unlock member-only benefits!
  • Bookmark stories to read later.
  • Comment on stories to start conversations.
  • Subscribe to our newsletters.
  • Get notified about discounts and offers to our products.
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment