The Odisha health department announced on Monday that over one crore people in the state have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Happy to share that Odisha has achieved another milestone in Covid-19 vaccination with over one crore citizens fully vaccinated with two doses of Covid-19 vaccines,” the health department said in a tweet. According to official data, 24,306,314 people have taken the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccines.

Bijay Mohapatra, director, health services, said all beneficiaries in Bhubaneswar and Berhampur cities have got the first shot. “All the 3.1 crore eligible beneficiaries will receive the first shot of the vaccine by December-end,” he said.

The development comes at a time when senior IAS officer and agriculture production commissioner R.K. Sharma has been asked by the government to keep additional charge of the health and family welfare department. Sharma replaced health secretary P.K. Mohapatra who was transferred and appointed as chairman of the Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) on October 16.

Health secretary Mohapatra was transferred following the high court’s critical observations about the state’s Covid management in September. The court had also expressed dissatisfaction over the affidavit filed by the health department on Covid-related deaths in the state. Later, he was asked to go on leave.

After he joined duty on October 16, the government appointed him as the OFDC chairman.

Though the Covid case graph has shown a consistent downward trend for the past few months, the state government is taking all possible precautions in view of the festive season. The government remains particularly worried about the situation in major cities like Bhubaneswar and Cuttack where people have been thronging markets with many of them without face masks.