Thursday, 01 July 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
48% of the 45 + population in the state has received the first dose of the vaccine
Amid increasing anxiety over the probable arrival of the third wave of the pandemic of Covid 19 and concern over the current slow pace of vaccination the health department of Uttarakhand is confident that it can successfully accomplish the daunting task of vaccinating its entire 18 plus population before December 15 this year. The department claims that it has developed a capacity to vaccinate 1.25 lakh people daily and if adequate quantity of doses is made available it would be able to administer both the doses of vaccine to more than 77 lakh people of the state who are above 18 years of age within time.
In Uttarakhand the vaccination drive to protect people from the dreaded Covid-19 started on January 16 this year. In the state 35,77,201 people have received the first shot of vaccine while 8,21,418 have got both the doses of the vaccine.
The state immunisation officer Dr K S Martolia told The Pioneer that 48 percent of the 45 plus age group population in the state has received the first dose of the vaccine. He expressed confidence that the task of vaccinating the entire 18 plus population in the state would be completed in December. On the question of the preparation of the department to vaccinate children when the vaccine for them is approved, Dr Martolia said that the state has a robust mechanism to vaccinate children under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). He said that more than 35 lakh children were vaccinated in the state in the Measles- Rubella (MR) campaign in the year 2018. Dr Martolia said that the state is regularly receiving its quota of the vaccines from the Union government. He said that 2.5 lakh doses of vaccine would be received on July 2.
