As many as 8207 senior citizens and 1155 middle-agers with comorbid conditions were among the 11,848 people who were administered the first dose of the Covishield vaccine in Jharkhand on Monday, figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

As per government data, as many as 43,985 senior citizens and 5,704 middle-agers with comorbid conditions have been vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus in Jharkhand since the launch of the second phase of the immunisation programme on March 1.

While the number of the general public getting vaccinated has increased gradually, the percentage of registered healthcare and frontline workers administered the first dose of the vaccine has dropped lately. After achieving only 4 per cent of the vaccination target for healthcare and frontline workers on Sunday, the state achieved only 8 per cent of its target on Monday by vaccinating only 2,486 of the over 31,000 registered beneficiaries.

At least 1211 senior citizens were vaccinated in Ranchi on Monday, while 1437 senior citizens got the first jab of the vaccine in Pakur. As many as 696 people were administered the vaccine in Bokaro and 283 in East Singhbhum on the day.

Jharkhand achieved 26 per cent of its target for administering the second dose of the vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers on the day. As many as 10320 healthcare workers and frontline workers were administered the second jab of Covishield vaccine on Monday in the state.

As per government data, so far, the state has administered the first dose of the vaccine to 3,65,934 people, while the second jab has been administered to 76,627 beneficiaries. The state has achieved 83 per cent of its target for administering the first dose of the vaccine and 72 per cent of target for the second dose, reveals government data.

Meanwhile, the count of Covid patients also increased in the state on Monday. At least 53 fresh cases of Covid-19 infection surfaced in Jharkhand on the day, while 44 patients recovered, stated a bulletin released by the NHM.

Ranchi reported 31 cases against 22 recoveries and witnessed a spike in the count of active cases. As per the NHM bulletin, at least 281 people were battling the viral infection in the district. Ranchi accounts for almost 60 per cent of the 472 active cases in Jharkhand.

As per government data, as many as 120312 people have been infected by the lethal virus in Jharkhand so far, and more than 98 per cent of them have recovered. The growth rate of the virus in Jharkhand was 0.03 per cent against the national average of 0.11 per cent.