Worried over the upsurge in fresh COVID-19 cases, the health authorities in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh will step up vaccination drive at the grassroots level from Thursday.
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Fresh cases, which had been in the single digit till recently, has now shot up to 39 in the Nellore and Prakasam, pushing the tally of active cases to 252, including 127 in Nellore district.
“We will now aggressively take up the vaccination drive in the villages,” said SPSR Nellore Joint Collector (Health) N. Prabhakara Reddy. Nellore district reported 23 new cases and Prakasam 16 on Wednesday.
On a saturation basis, all the eligible people including seniors and those aged above 45 and suffering from comorbidity conditions would be vaccinated at their doorstep itself, said SPSR Nellore District Medical and Health Officer S. Rajyalakshmi while overseeing the arrangements for rolling out the vaccination programme at Chennuru, a remote, near Gudur, on Thursday.
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Over 1.19 lakh people, including more than 60,000 seniors, have taken the jab so far.At least 8,000 beneficiaries took the vaccine at 137 session sites till late on Wednesday.
The Joint Collector said complacency had set in among public as the district recorded nil new cases during last month. All sections of people should behave responsibly to prevent the second wave of coronovirus in the district, he cautioned.
Special testing drive in schools
A fortnight-long campaign would be undertaken exhorting people to wear masks and avoid as much as possible staying in closed halls for long and visiting crowded places. The district administration would conduct a special testing drive in schools, he added.