Jharkhand on Sunday achieved only 4 per cent of its target for administering the first dose of Covishield vaccine to healthcare workers and frontline workers, while the number of senior citizens getting vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus also dropped on the day in comparison to Saturday, figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

As many as 2,628 senior citizens and 510 middle-aged persons with comorbid conditions were inoculated in Jharkhand on Sunday. As per government records, as many as 7668 senior citizens and over 1000 middle-agers with comorbid conditions were administered the first dose of the vaccine on Saturday.

A report released by NHM stated that only 642 of the 16,142 healthcare workers and frontline workers registered for the vaccine were inoculated on Sunday. While a total of 3780 people were administered the first dose of the vaccine in Jharkhand on the day, almost 70 per cent of them were senior citizens, government data highlighted.

Of the over 2500 senior citizens vaccinated on the day, as many as 375 were from Ranchi, 363 from Bokaro and 198 from Dhanbad. As per NHM data, no person was vaccinated in East Singhbhum on Sunday. Among the 510 middle-agers vaccinated in the state, 128 were from Ranchi and 133 from Deoghar.

While the state performed poorly in administering the first dose of the vaccine to the beneficiaries on the day, it achieved 51 per cent of its target for administering the second dose. At least 2767 of the 5378 healthcare workers registered for the second dose of the vaccine on Sunday were vaccinated.

As per government data, the state has so far vaccinated 3,54,100 people against the Covid-19 virus. At least 35,776 senior citizens and 4555 middle-agers with comorbid conditions have been administered the first dose of the vaccine in the state so far, reveals data compiled by the NHM.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 virus claimed two more lives in Ranchi on Sunday, taking the Covid toll in the district to 249 and that in Jharkhand to 1093, stated a bulletin released by the NHM. As many as 42 people were found infected by the Covid-19 virus in Jharkhand on the day while 38 Covid patients recovered, taking the count of active cases to 463. Ranchi reported 29 cases and 25 recoveries on the day.

As per government data, over 1.20 lakh people have been infected by the mysterious virus in Jharkhand so far and more than 98 per cent of them have recovered. At the current growth rate of infection, it would take more than 2134 days for the cases to double in Jharkhand.