More than 2.5 lakh people were inoculated against the Covid-19 virus in Jharkhand by the end of Wednesday, helping the state achieve 64 per cent of its vaccination target since the beginning of the immunization programme on January 16, data compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

On Wednesday, as many as 8340 people – only 35 per cent of the total registered beneficiaries – were administered the first dose of Covishield vaccine in Jharkhand, while 2148 of the registered 3029 beneficiaries were administered the second dose of the vaccine, the NHM stated in a report.

The state has so far administered the first dose of Covishield vaccine to almost 30,000 people in Ranchi and over 22,000 in Dhanbad. Ranchi, however, has achieved only 50 per cent of its vaccination target, which is the lowest among the 24 districts in Jharkhand, highlighted the NHM report.

At least three districts – Bokaro, Palamu and Hazaribag – achieved 100 per cent target in administering the second dose of vaccine, while Ranchi achieved 94 per cent target by administering the second jab to 103 people. As many as 80 people were inoculated for the second time in Bokaro, 144 people in Palamu and 118 in Hazaribag.

Meanwhile, the first Covishield jab was administered to 466 people in Ranchi, which achieved 30 per cent of its target. As many as 400 people were also inoculated for the first time in East Singhbhum on the day. However, the district achieved only 23 per cent of its vaccination target.

Two cases of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI), both from Bokaro, were reported on Wednesday, taking the total AEFI cases in the state to 268. However, no severe symptoms were found in any of the beneficiaries that complained of adverse events, doctors said.

Meanwhile, fresh cases of Covid-19 infection outnumbered recoveries on the day, taking the total count of active cases to 466, a separate bulletin released by NHM stated. The state reported 45 cases against 39 recoveries on the day. However, the number of patients dropped in Ranchi as it reported 28 Covid recoveries against 23 cases, the bulletin further stated.

As per the bulletin, Godda reported one case of Covid-19 infection on the day, losing its Covid-free tag. However, Giridih and Pakur remained Covid free despite around 1000 people tested in the two districts on the day.

So far, as many as 1,19,439 people have been infected by the lethal virus in Jharkhand and 98.70 per cent of them have recovered. At the current pace, it would take more than 2,484 days for the cases to double in Jharkhand. No fresh Covid casualties were reported in the state on Wednesday, highlights government data.