Covid-19: 1.67 lakh in 15-18 age group get first shot in rural Pune

PUNE: The Zilla Parishad (ZP) of Pune will complete vaccinations of the first dose for the age group of 15 to 18-year-olds within the next week, chief executive officer (CEO) Ayush Prasad declared on Sunday.
While the drive began recently, he said that as many as 1.67 lakh beneficiaries have already been vaccinated, out of the total 2.11 lakh such eligible beneficiaries in these limits.
“Around 79% of this new age group has been vaccinated by now. Considering our daily vaccination numbers in rural Pune, we are confident that we will complete inoculating the remaining beneficiaries within a week,” Prasad added.
Rural Pune covers as many as 13 tehsils and 14 municipal councils of the district.
“We have told our primary health centers (PHCs) and gram panchayats to list out all school beneficiaries and vaccinate them on priority. Also, school students who were absent when the vaccination drive was held in their classrooms will be identified in each village and vaccinated on priority in the district,” highlighted Prasad.
The ZP, since the beginning of the initiative, has launched vaccination drivse in schools and colleges as part of a rapid coverage strategy. As a result, they could cover maximum students from the said age group. Officials had also taken help from local leaders and activists to speed up the drive.
Ever since the drive for this age group has been launched, the rural Pune administration has performed much better than the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).
Under PMC limits, a mere 67,307 beneficiaries out of 2.24 lakh have been vaccinated, while under PCMC just 49,431 out of 1.16 lakh have been vaccinated so far from the said age group, stated the ZP report.
“Both the corporations are yet to complete the mark of even 50% till date. We have had a discussion on this issue in a meeting. They will also expedite the drive. The number will go up in the coming days,” a senior official from the health department of the ZP told TOI.