Covid: Odisha crosses 3 crore vaccination mark; aims to inoculate all residents with first dose by year end

Odisha’s vaccination in-charge and Family Welfare director Dr Bijay Panigrahi on Wednesday said that the state has administered more than 3 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine and has set target of vaccinating all residents with the first dose by the end of this year.

“Till now we have administered over 3 crore vaccine doses. Our target is to vaccinate eligible population with at least 1st dose till year-end & we’re prioritising beneficiaries who missed their 2 doses,” ANI reported Panigrahi as saying.

“We have also fixed a target of 4 lakh vaccinations per day and on average we are doing more than 3 lakhs every day,” he said.

Taking to Twitter, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said: “Glad to share that #Odisha has crossed yet another significant milestone in the fight against #COVID19 by administering 3 crore vaccine doses. Commend the hard work & commitment of our healthcare workers in ensuring a swift vaccination to save precious lives.”

The state had launched the vaccination drive on January 16 this year and targets to complete the inoculation programme by December 31. Of the state’s 4.5 crore population, the government has set a target to inoculate 3.09 crore people in the age of 18 years or above, PTI quoted an official as saying.

Odisha on Wednesday registered 565 new Covid-19 cases taking the state’s tally to 10,25,874 while five fresh fatalities pushed the coronavirus death toll to 8,192, a health department official said.