The number of vaccination centres in the district is set to increase over the next few days considering that the vaccination drive will expand to cover all people over the age of 45 from April 1 onwards.
While 90 vaccination centres are presently functioning in the government sector, there are 70 private vaccination centres. Health officials in the district plan on increasing the number soon to 100 centres each in the government and private sectors to meet the increased demand.
The target for the district is to administer 20,000 doses daily, and an average of around 18,000 doses are administered daily for now, said Dr. M.G. Sivadas, Reproductive and Child Health Officer and nodal officer for immunisation. A little over 1 lakh doses are altogether available in government and private centres, and the stock will last for at least five days. A fresh supply of vaccines is expected to arrive in the district on April 2. The regional vaccine store in Ernakulam has a stock of about 1 lakh doses that can be dipped into if needed, Dr. Sivadas said.
After five mobile units were rolled out for vaccination last week, 45 homes for the elderly were covered, and 1,759 residents of such homes have taken the shot. A total of 15 mass vaccination camps have also been set up.
A total of 77,400 health workers have taken the first shot of the vaccine, and 53,919 have taken the second dose so far. Among polling officials, 30,037 have taken the first dose. As many as 14,053 people have taken the shot among other frontline workers, including police officers. Among people over 60 years and people over 45 years with specific co-morbidities, as many as 2,03,089 people have taken the first dose of the vaccine.
In total, 3,24,579 people have taken the first dose so far and 63,251 people have taken the second dose as well.
220 new cases
Four health workers tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, and a total of 220 new cases were recorded in the district. Avoli, Cheranalloor, and Thrikkakara recorded eight cases each, while Thripunithura, Perumbavoor and Manjalloor saw seven each. A CISF officer has also tested positive. A total of 7,682 samples were sent for testing.
With 326 people testing negative on Sunday, the active caseload stands at 2,526. At home, 1,932 people are recovering, 17 patients are at the Government Medical College Hospital, 23 are at PVS Hospital, and two patients are recovering at the Fort Kochi Taluk Hospital. At private hospitals, 151 people are recovering.
