BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government will continue administration of free booster doses until further instructions from the Centre. The 75-day long drive launched as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebration was expected to end on September 30.
Director of Family Welfare and nodal officer of Covid vaccination Dr Bijay Panigrahy said since there is no communication from the Ministry of Health on discontinuance, the districts have been asked to administer the precaution dose free of cost until the vaccine stock lasts.
“The free booster dose drive was launched by the Centre as part of the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence. It was for a period of 75 days. We have a stock of three lakh vaccine doses. If the Ministry provides the precaution doses like before, people will continue to get the free doses,” he said.
Odisha was among the top-five states with around 37.5 per cent of the targeted beneficiaries getting the precaution dose during the two-and-a-half-month long drive. Around 58.6 pc senior citizens and 33.5 pc people of 18-59 years have got their booster shots in the State.
Sources said of the 3.25 crore people of 18 years and above who were administered Covid vaccines, around 1.22 crore have taken precaution dose so far. The health authorities have urged people to get their booster shots at the earliest in view of the festive congregations and the winter season.
“More than two crore people are still to be administered with a precaution dose, we have urged people to come forward and get it. We do not know whether the Ministry of Health will continue to supply vaccine doses free in coming months. People should take it without any delay,” Dr Panigrahy said.
Though the State has achieved 94 pc coverage in second dose coverage, the coverage in districts like Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Angul, Puri and Sundargarh is below the State average. Around 23 lakh people are yet to get their second shot in the State.