About 2.5 lakh beneficiaries in Ranchi have missed taking the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on time, forcing the district administration here to visit door-to-door and convince them to get their second dose at the earliest in a bid to ensure protection from SARS-CoV-2 virus, officials said on Thursday.
Ranchi deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan said the administration was running campaigns to encourage second dose beneficiaries to get their jabs voluntarily, but stricter measures could also be taken if people continue to show reluctance.
“We are encouraging all the second dose beneficiaries to take vaccines voluntarily by conducting door-to-door campaigns,” he said, urging all residents of the Jharkhand capital to act responsibly and get vaccinated on time.
As per records with the health department, there are about 21 lakh eligible vaccine beneficiaries in Ranchi, and around 16 lakh of them have received at least the first dose of vaccine against Covid-19. However, only 8-lakh-odd residents have also taken the second jab.
In a letter addressed to all deputy commissioners last month, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Arun Kumar Singh asked them to expedite the vaccination process under the door-to-door campaign, and organise special vaccination camps on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in all districts.
“All the districts are requested to speed up vaccination and try to achieve the fresh targets provided by the health department,” Singh wrote in his letter.
The fresh vaccination target set for the state was 3.50 lakh doses every day in the last week of November and over 4 lakh jabs daily from December 1 to December 20. However, the state has not been able to achieve these targets yet.
In the wake of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also directed all the states and Union territories to speed up vaccination. While some experts have said that the new variant may bypass the immunity provided by Covid-19 vaccines, fully-vaccinated individuals still had better immunity against the virus than those who have only received one dose, health officials said.
Jharkhand health minister Banna Gupta has admitted that the vaccination campaign was affected by the festive season in Jharkhand, and promised to ensure that daily vaccination figures are imncreased in the days to come.
As per government records, there are over 2.41 crore vaccine beneficiaries in Jharkhand. At least 69 per cent of them have received the first dose of vaccine, and over 33 per cent have received both the doses.