JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday achieved two crore vaccinations landmark against COVID-19, officials said.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha hailed the efforts of the healthcare and frontline workers in battling the odds of tough geographical terrain, vagaries of the weather and other impediments to achieve the feat.
Thanking the people, he said, "Congratulations to the people of the union territory for their cooperation and resolve to unitedly tackle the public health emergency."
Sinha said Jammu and Kashmir has been the frontrunner among the states and union territories in vaccinating eligible population against COVID-19.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration achieved the one crore doses milestone as early on September 18 last year.
Subsequently, on October 14, it registered 100 per cent coverage of the first dose for people aged 18 and above, officials said.
The union territory marked 100 per cent vaccination of both doses on January 12.
According to the officials, the lieutenant governor has been personally monitoring the public health response in view of the pandemic on a weekly basis.
It was under his guidance that the union territory government launched a 10-point campaign in November to raise awareness about vaccination and highlight various government schemes being implemented at the grassroots level.
The 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign, that involved a door-to-door vaccination drive, substantially boosted vaccination numbers, they said.
As on date, 57 per cent adolescents in the age group of 15-18, have received the first dose while 1,02,020 precaution doses have been administered, officials said.
In the highest single-day spike so far, Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday recorded 5,818 fresh cases of COVID-19, taking the total infections to 3,72,669, while four deaths were reported in 24 hours, officials said.
Of the fresh cases, 4,066 were from the Kashmir division and 1,752 from Jammu, the officials said.
They said Srinagar district, with 1,745 cases, recorded the highest number, followed by 1,131 cases in Jammu district.
There are 26,236 active cases in the union territory, while 3,41,854 patients recovered so far since the pandemic struck, the officials said.
With the four fresh deaths, the toll went up to 4,579.
Meanwhile, the officials said, there were 51 confirmed cases of Mucormycosis (black fungus) in the union territory.