Jharkhand achieved 42 per cent of its vaccination target on Saturday, inoculating 6,306 healthcare and 3,609 frontline workers, figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

More than 16,000 healthcare workers and almost 7,500 frontline workers were registered across the vaccination centres in 24 districts of Jharkhand. While 49 per cent of the registered frontline workers got the Covishield jabs, only 39 per cent of the registered healthcare workers turned up the vaccination centres to get the vaccine shots.

Dhanbad inoculated at least 1,476 of the 1,569 registered beneficiaries there, achieving 94 per cent of its target, the highest among all the 24 districts in Jharkhand. Ranchi, on the other hand vaccinated only 1,311 of the 4,030 registered beneficiaries, achieving only 33 per cent of its target – one of the lowest in the state. As many as 512 of the over 1,400 beneficiaries were administered the Covishield shot in East Singhbhum.

Since the beginning of the immunisation drive on January 16, Jharkhand has inoculated as many as 95,916 people against the Covid-19 virus, highlights government data. As per NHM data, more than 10,000 people were vaccinated in Ranchi alone – the highest among districts in Jharkhand.

Of the 95,916 people vaccinated so far, 85,544 were healthcare workers, while 10,372 were frontline workers, mostly police personnel and sanitation workers, stated a report released by the NHM.

The state has reported 246 cases of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) and 169 of these cases occurred in Ranchi. However, doctors say that none of the people who reported AEFI complained of severe symptoms.

Meanwhile, recoveries outnumbered the fresh cases of Covid-19 in Jharkhand, bringing the count of active cases down to 428, NHM said. Ranchi, however, registered a rise in active cases as the district reported 25 cases against 24 recoveries.

As per the NHM bulletin, 41 people were infected in Jharkhand on Saturday, while 54 patients recovered in the state. At least 19 of the 24 districts did not report fresh cases of infection, but Ranchi accounted for more than 60 per cent of fresh cases reported in Jharkhand on the day.

More than 1.18 lakh people have been infected by Covid-19 in the state so far and 98.73 per cent of them have recovered. The growth rate of Covid cases in the state was 0.03 per cent against the national average of 0.07 per cent. At the current pace, it would take more than 2,009 days for the cases to double in Jharkhand. The doubling rate in India was 924.65 days.