Nellore and Chittoor districts lead in COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Andhra Pradesh, second dose coverage in the State at 74.16 per cent

A health worker administering the COVID-19 vaccine to a person in the presence of District Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu in Nellore.

Ravi Sharma

The districts of Nellore and Chittoor are leading the way in vaccination coverage in Andhra Pradesh as the State strives to vaccinate its entire eligible population with both doses of the COVID-19 vaccination. Both the districts have achieved an 80 per cent plus coverage of the targeted population of 23,69,803 and 33,87,420 respectively.

While Nellore district has achieved an 80.81 per cent coverage as of the evening of December 30, Chittoor has done marginally better with an 81.57 per cent coverage. Chittoor needs to administer another 64,537 second dose vaccinations to those who have completed the mandatory 84-day interval after the first dose and are eligible to take the second dose. In Nellore, 1,70,370 persons are yet to receive their second dose.

Besides Chittoor and Nellore, nine other districts of the State’s 13 districts have crossed the 70 per cent second dose coverage milestone—Prakasam with 78.03 per cent, Krishna (77.31 per cent), East Godavari (75.72 per cent), West Godavari (75.78 per cent), Kurnool (74.24 per cent), Anantapur (73.58 per cent), Visakhapatnam (73.36 per cent), Vizianagaram (72.10 per cent) and Kadapa (71.29 per cent). Guntur with 63.71 per cent and Srikakulam (66.04 per cent) were the two districts with some catching up to do.

Overall, the State’s target population, as projected by the Government of India, is 3,95,22,000 persons. Andhra Pradesh completed administering the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination to 3,95,65,253 persons during the middle of December, thereby reaching a 100.11 percentage coverage. The districts of Visakhapatnam (99.77 per cent), Kadapa (99.92 per cent) and Krishna (98 per cent) are marginally short of completing full coverage of the first dose. The State has administered 2,96,10,007 eligible persons with both doses, accomplishing a coverage of 74.16 per cent.

Nellore’s achievement

In Nellore, while all five categories of the population eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccination—healthcare workers, frontline workers, citizens above 60 years of age, those between the ages of 45 and 60, and those between the ages of 18 and 45—have been administered the first dose of the vaccine, 100 per cent of the first two categories have also been given their second shot.

Nellore, which on December 11 was the first district in Andhra Pradesh to achieve a 100 per cent coverage of the first dose of the vaccine, has vaccinated 88.18 per cent of the district’s 3,47,065 eligible persons in the above-60-years category with both doses of the vaccine. The district has also vaccinated 88.50 per cent of the 7,28,967 eligible persons in the 45 to 60 age group and 71.01 per cent in the 18 to 45 age category with both doses of the vaccine.

According to K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu, District Collector, Nellore, the journey to vaccinate the district’s population, which started on January 16 had to cross many a hurdle, was sustained only because of the “consistent and strenuous” effort of the entire district’s administration, especially the medical and health teams.