The State’s health authorities have decided to undertake a drive to identify the adult people who have not turned up for the second dose after the stipulated time frame after receiving the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
The frontline health workers on Tuesday have undertaken door-to-door surveys to prepare the list of vaccination-absentees so that they could be brought to the vaccination centres. The government is intent on fully vaccinating the eligible adult population. The door-to-door visit initiative aims at ensuring that none is left out from the Covid vaccination, said Bijay Panigrahi, Director Family Welfare and nodal officer for vaccination drive in Odisha.
“As per the government records, 30 lakh people so far skipped the second dose in the state after the stipulated time frame between two doses. It has been targeted to achieve 100% first dose coverage by 31 December. To intensify the vaccination programme, it has been decided to set up vaccination centres in large villages”, he said.
The list of people who are yet to take the 2nd dose are being sent SMS messages in their registered mobile numbers to rush to the vaccination centres to receive the overdue jibes, he added.
Till date, as many as 3,74,63,734 vaccine doses (2,58,00,673 first dose and 1,16,63,061 second dose) have been administered in the state. The State accounts for 3.09 crore vaccine-eligible population of which around 38% is fully vaccinated as per the latest reports received from the health department.