As many as 3238 senior citizens and 260 middle-aged residents with comorbid conditions were inoculated against the Covid-19 virus in Jharkhand on Tuesday, taking the total count of senior citizens administered the first dose of the vaccine in the state to 4,151 since the launch of the second phase of the immunization programme on Monday, figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.
As per government data, as many as 704 senior citizens were inoculated in Ranchi on the day – the highest among the 24 districts in Jharkhand. A report released by the NHM stated that 397 senior citizens in Bokaro, 276 in Dhanbad and only 70 in East Singhbhum were administered the first dose of the Covishield vaccine. With only five senior citizens inoculated on the day, Hazaribagh was the worst performer among Jharkhand districts on Tuesday.
Of the 260 beneficiaries older than 45 years and with comorbid conditions vaccinated on the day, 60 were from Ramgarh, eight from Ranchi, only two from East Singhbhum, 55 from Deoghar and 17 from Bokaro, the NHM report revealed.
As per data shared by private hospitals, only about 200 beneficiaries were administered the first jab of the vaccine at private facilities in Ranchi. Only Raj Hospital on Main Road and Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Superspecialty Hospital near Booty More started inoculating senior citizens and middle-agers with comorbid conditions in Ranchi on the day, health officials said.
Meanwhile, the state also administered the first dose of the vaccine to 6305 healthcare workers and frontline workers, taking the total count of beneficiaries getting vaccinated in the first phase of the immunization programme in Jharkhand to 3,01,192, a separate report from the NHM stated. Jharkhand achieved only 27 per cent of its target for inoculating frontline workers and healthcare workers on the day. However, in totality, the state has achieved 82 per cent of its vaccination target so far.
On Tuesday, the second dose of the vaccine was administered to 4587 healthcare workers and frontline workers, who received the first dose a month ago. The state achieved 58 per cent of its target in administering the second dose of the vaccine to registered beneficiaries on the day.
The number of active cases of Covid-19 infection drew close to 500 on Tuesday as the state reported only 38 Covid recoveries against 51 fresh cases in 24 hours, a bulletin released by NHM stated. On Tuesday night, at least 498 people were battling the viral infection in Jharkhand.
Ranchi, once again, reported more than half of the fresh cases in Jharkhand and also witnessed a rise in active cases on Tuesday. With 28 cases and 23 recoveries, Ranchi saw a minor rise in active cases to 291, the bulletin further stated. The state did not report Covid casualties on the day.
As per government data, as many as 1,20,037 Jharkhand residents have been infected by the lethal virus so far and 98.67 per cent of them have recovered.