BHUBANESWAR: The fear of Covid-19 fourth wave notwithstanding, the vaccination of teenagers has slowed down in Odisha as around 58 per cent (pc) of the eligible beneficiaries of 15-18 years age group have been administered both the doses. The fourth phase of the inoculation drive launched for the teenagers on January 3 was expected to be over by April. So far, 86 pc of the targeted beneficiaries have received at least one dose of vaccine and 67 pc of them have been vaccinated with two doses.
As per the Health department, of an estimated 23.65 lakh eligible beneficiaries in the 15 to 18 year age group, 20.45 lakh teenagers have got their first dose and 13.76 lakh have received both the doses till April 14. Andhra Pradesh is at the top with 102.9 pc of the targeted population in the age group of 15-18 years being fully vaccinated. The southern State is followed by Jammu and Kashmir with 83.6 pc and Himachal Pradesh with 80.8 pc. The national average of second dose coverage in the 15-18 years age group is 54.3 pc.
Less than 60 pc of those eligible in the 15-18 years age group have been administered both the doses of Covid vaccine in Boudh, Deogarh, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Angul, Bhadrak and Puri. Jagatsinghpur topped the list with 92 pc double dose vaccination among the adolescents, followed by 87 pc in Bhubaneswar, 77 pc in Balasore 75 pc in Ganjam, 72 pc in Cuttack, 71 pc each in Malkangiri and Koraput and 70 pc in Khurda. The vaccination of 12-14 years age group is also not encouraging as only 0.13 pc of the eligible population have been administered with double doses.
The Covid vaccination for the 12-14 years age group had begun on March 16. Of an estimated 15.21 lakh children, including 7.4 lakh girls, in the 12-14 years age group, 10.77 lakh have received the first dose and only 2,031 got both the doses. The beneficiaries in 10 districts have not yet got their second dose. Director of Family Welfare and nodal officer of Covid vaccination Dr Bijay Panigrahi admitted that the daily vaccination has come down from a range of 1.5 lakh last month to around 50,000 now. “We have opened around 2700 vax centres. Districts have been asked to mobilise those who have not got their shots to the centres on priority and campaign in educational institutions to cover all eligible by the end of the month,” he added.