The Jharkhand government on Sunday vaccinated over 1.4 lakh people, including a 107-year-old woman from Koderma, on Day 2 of its mass Panchayat level vaccination campaign against Covid-19 virus, figures with the health department highlighted.
Makina Khatun, the 107-year-old woman who got the first dose of Covishield vaccine in Koderma, said that she did not feel any discomfort after the jab and was willing to take the second jab on time. Born in 1914, Makina does not suffer from any comorbid conditions and was accompanied to the vaccination centre by her family.
“All I could feel was a slight pinch on the arm. I did not feel any discomfort after getting the injection,” said Makina.
Besides Makina, the state also administered the first dose of the vaccine to more than 1.14 lakh other senior citizens on Sunday, a majority of who were rural residents, health officials said.
State health secretary KK Soan inspected vaccination centres at Tamar and Bundu blocks in Ranchi on the day and interacted with the beneficiaries there. He also sought details about the various challenges faced by healthcare workers during the ongoing vaccination drive and lauded them for their efforts.
The state on Sunday achieved 88 per cent of its target for administering the first dose of the vaccine. As per government data, of the 1,43,575 people inoculated on the day, as many as 1,14,534 were senior citizens and 25,638 were middle-agers with comorbid conditions.
The health department, which has set a target of vaccinating at least 10 lakh people during the Panchayat level drive, has achieved more than 20 per cent of its target in the first two days of the campaign. Since the launch of the vaccination campaign on January 16, over 8.8 lakh people have been administered the first dose of the vaccine in the state. More than 4.21 lakh senior citizens and nearly 75,000 middle-agers with comorbid conditions have been administered the first dose of the vaccine so far, reveals government data.
However, Jharkhand managed to administer the second dose of the vaccine to only 3771 beneficiaries, hardly 5 per cent of the target, on Sunday. So far, the state has administered the second dose of the vaccine to more than 2.12 lakh people.
Meanwhile, 83 fresh Covid cases against 48 recoveries took the count of active cases in Jharkhand to 756 on Sunday, a bulletin released by NHM stated. Besides reporting 48 fresh cases of infection, Ranchi also reported a Covid casualty, which took the Covid toll in the state to 1096 and that in Ranchi to 251, the bulletin added.