Bhubaneswar: In Odisha out of 16 lakh persons whose second dose of the Covid vaccine is due, 13 lakh are such persons whose second dose is rather overdue which means they have crossed the gap of 112 days, informed State Nodal Officer for Immunization and Family Welfare Director Dr Bijay Panigrahi.
Dr Panigrahi requested these people to get their second dose since there is no shortage of vaccines and it’s available in almost all districts.
The State Nodal Officer for Immunization stated that district authorities have been instructed to vaccinate these 16 lakh beneficiaries on a priority basis.
On being asked about by when is the State going to achieve cent per cent vaccination of the eligible population, Dr Panigrahi said that it all depends on the availability of the doses and added that by now 52% of the eligible population have been vaccinated with the first dose and over 50 lakh people have been administered with both the doses.
“So now sooner the vaccine doses are available we will administer them to the people,” he explained.
Speaking on the possible covid third wave Dr Panigarhi said that guidelines have been already issued to the districts. Already requirement of bed, ventilator, equipment, oxygen, drugs etc has been identified, he added.
Dr Panigrahi informed that today is the last day of training for capacity building of healthcare personnel which include paediatricians, medical officers, staff nurses.
The State Nodal Officer for Immunization said that since schools have started to open, guidelines have been issued to the districts to consult with District Education Officers and by using the software UDISE-Plus find out how many of the teachers and non-teaching staff have been vaccinated and how many are yet to get vaccinated.
On the basis of data district officials will prepare a micro plan to get them vaccinated on a priority basis by organising special Covid Vaccination Centres for them, he added. He said that for the purpose of vaccinating teachers and second dose 11 lakh doses of vaccine is expected to reach the State which will begin from today.
On being asked about the percentage of children and adolescents being infected with the virus, Dr Panigrahi said the infection rate for persons in the 0-18 year range is within 10-15% and added that yesterday it was 12%.
