BHUBANESWAR: Even as Odisha is among the states with a high vaccination rate and least vaccine wastage, the State government directed districts to do micro-planning in campaign mode and intensify second dose inoculation to achieve 100 per cent (pc) coverage at the earliest.
After a high-level review of Covid vaccination in the State on Tuesday, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said the vaccination rate has gone above the national average with the least procedural wastage and Odisha is now on fast track towards achieving complete inoculation of the population of 18 years and above.
“We are now in a transitional phase of the pandemic. There has been a substantial reduction in the number of infected cases. Now we have to intensify the vaccination drive before the third wave, if any,” he said.
The Chief Secretary directed the Collectors to prepare the village and panchayat-level micro plan for vaccination and ensure 100 percent implementation of the plans on campaign mode through door-to-door survey. The districts were asked to intensify the campaign and open more vaccination centers at village-level.
Additional Chief Secretary Health and Family Welfare Raj Kumar Sharma said total vaccination in Odisha has crossed 4.06 crore of which, 2,69,38,500 persons received the first dose and around 1,37,61,361 received both doses.
The share of the 18 years and above population who received the first dose was 82.4 pc against the national average of 79.8 pc. Similarly, 41.5 pc of the population received the second dose against the national average of 38.4 pc, he said. While the target was to accomplish 90 pc administration of the first dose by November 30, the Chief Secretary directed to step up the drive to achieve 100 pc coverage by the end of December.
NHM Director Shalini Pandit informed that because of the proper care in storing, transportation and administration of the vaccine, the wastage of the doses was the least in Odisha. “The vaccine waste dipped to minus 5.3 pc in the State thereby saving around 20 lakh doses. There was sufficient supply of the vaccine and syringes. Districts would be supplied more as per demand,” she informed.
Pandit directed to ensure that the second dose of the vaccine should always be of the same brand of the first dose without fail and the second dose is administered within the specified time limit of the first dose. There should not be intermixing of the type of vaccine between the doses, she added.