HYDERABAD: At least 15.9 per cent of the eligible population in Telangana has been vaccinated with both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Saturday. This amounts to nearly 38.27 lakh citizens out of the 2.4 crore adult population eligible to take the vaccine.
This was achieved after the State began prioritising the administration of the second dose over the last two weeks after several individuals became eligible. With this, the State has cumulatively given 1,53,74,395 doses of vaccine to citizens, covering at least 51 per cent of the eligible population with at least 1.15 crore one dose given.
Both doses of the vaccine become increasingly crucial after multiple studies have shown that a single dose of the vaccine can only prevent serious disease and not necessarily the infection.
In fact, the vaccine efficacy has fallen further after the new Delta variant has taken over the Alpha variant, making two doses all the more critical. The majority of the second dose has gone to the vulnerable and high-priority groups such as health care workers (HCW), front-line workers (FLW), and individuals who are 45+.
In the HCW group, 74 per cent are fully vaccinated, in FLW, 63 per cent, and in the 45+ age group, 49% are fully vaccinated.