The rate of administration of COVID-19 vaccines to the eligible adult population in the coastal State stays above the national rate with minimal procedural wastage of vaccine doses, the government agencies claimed on Tuesday.

The State is striding fast towards achieving 100% vaccination of the population above 18 years of age group and this is made possible through a well-orchestrated community based management model, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said after presiding over a high level review meeting.

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“We are now in a transitional phase of the pandemic. There has been a substantial reduction in the number of infected cases. At this point of time, we have to intensify the vaccination drive before the possible outbreak of the third wave of the pandemic”, Mahapatra said.

The Collectors of all the districts have been asked to prepare the village and Gram Panchayat (GP) level micro plan for vaccination. They have also been asked to ensure cent percent implementation of the micro plans on campaign mode through door to door surveys. The districts have also been asked to intensify the campaign and open more vaccination centers at village and GP level, he informed.

The total vaccination in Odisha has crossed 4.03 crore by 13 November. Out of this 2,68,04,755 number of persons who received the 1st dose while around 1,34,96,059 are fully vaccinated. The portion of the 18 + population who received 1st dose was 82.4% against the national average of 79.8%. Similarly, 41.5% of the population received the 2nd dose against the national average of 38.4%. Target has been set to achieve 90% administration of the 1st dose by 30 November, Additional Chief Secretary Health and Family Welfare Raj Kumar Sharma said.

“Because of the proper care in storing, transportation and administration of the vaccine, the wastage of the doses was least in Odisha. The vaccine waste dipped to -5.3% in the State thereby saving around 20 lakhs of the doses”, Director National Health Mission Shalini Pandit said.

There was sufficient supply of the vaccine and the syringes. Districts would be supplied more as per their demand.

Steps have been taken to ensure that the 2nd dose of the vaccine should always be of the same brand of the 1st dose without fail. There should not be intermixing of the type of vaccine between the 1st and 2nd dose, she said.