HYDERABAD: Despite a slow start in Telangana, inoculation of teens between 15-17 years of age has picked pace. On Wednesday alone, 1,02,578 people in this age bracket were inoculated taking the total of those immunised with a single dose to 1,87,538 individuals.
The dramatic rise in these numbers can be attributed to the fact that the Health Department, in coordination with the Education department, has changed track and is inoculating adolescents in school premises across the state.
“This was planned as in many areas the children are in school during the vaccination drive hours. We will take these drives to many schools after coordinating with Primary Health Centres and local schools in the area ahead of the vacation break,” said an official.
The intervention is even more critical in terms of districts like Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal where even though there are lakhs of children — 1.84 lakh, 1.77 lakh and 1.65 lakh — the vaccination rate is still on the lower side, with only 8 per cent, 6 per cent and 4 per cent of the total target population vaccinated till date.
The leading districts in the state in terms of inoculation of adolescents are Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar where already 30 per cent and 25 per cent of the target population have been covered.