The count of Jharkhand residents vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus crossed the 5 lakh mark on Tuesday as the state administered the first dose of the vaccine to over 25,000 beneficiaries on the day, figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

The total number of people administered the first dose of the Covishield vaccine in Jharkhand form around 1.5 per cent of the state's total population of 3.29 crore, as per the 2011 Census.

However, only 1,71,845 of the over 5 lakh vaccinated residents have also received the second jab, thereby completing their course of vaccination, NHM figures reveal.

On Tuesday, as many as 18,180 senior citizens and 2,490 middle-agers with comorbid conditions were administered the first dose of the vaccine, taking the total count of senior citizens vaccinated so far to 1,39,481 and those of vaccinated middle-agers to 22,612, a report released by the NHM stated.

The state achieved only 7 per cent of its target for administering the first dose of the vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers on the day by inoculating 3,772 of over 50,000 beneficiaries. The second dose was administered to 10,887 healthcare and frontline workers, hardly 12 per cent of the beneficiaries registered for the second jab on the day. So far, the state has achieved 88 per cent of its target for administering the first dose of the vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers and 70 per cent for the second dose.

The vaccination campaign for senior citizens and middle-agers with comorbid conditions was launched on March 1. The second dose of the vaccine will be administered to senior citizens and middle-agers with comorbid conditions after Holi, which is likely to be celebrated on March 28 and March 29, health officials said.

Meanwhile, the Covid toll reached 250 in Ranchi as the district reported one more casualty on Tuesday, a bulletin from NHM stated. The count of active cases also jumped to 577 in the state and 362 in Ranchi alone as fresh cases of infection outnumber Covid recoveries on the day, the bulletin added.

Ranchi reported 45 of the 76 fresh cases and 29 of the 54 Covid recoveries on Tuesday. The count of active cases have been on the rise in Jharkhand lately, forcing the government to take precautionary measures and intensifying testing, officials said.

As per government data, over 1.20 lakh people have been infected in the state so far and more than 98 per cent of them have recovered. The state has reported 1,094 Covid fatalities so far.