There was no let-up in the intensity of coronavirus in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh, where 405 persons contracted the viral disease while two more succumbed to it in a span of 24 hours. This included 190 cases in SPSR Nellore district and 215 in Prakasam district.
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The toll rose to 1,110 in the region as one person each in Nellore and Prakasam districts died due to pandemic, a health bulletin released by the State government said on Sunday. As many as 99 patients, including 38 in Prakasam district, were discharged on recovery during the period.
Meanwhile, ‘Tikka Utsav’, a four-day vaccination festival to inoculate as many people as possible, turned out to be a low-key affair in SPSR Nellore and Prakasam districts as the health authorities announced they had run out of stocks.
“We have zero stocks now in the two districts,” said the health officials, worried over the number of active cases increasing to 2,961 in the region, taking the cumulative COVID cases to 1,28,748. On the first day of the ‘Tika Utsav’, Prakasam inoculated a little over 1,000 persons while Nellore’s figures are not yet available.
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It may be noted that as many as 5.41 lakh beneficiaries, including 2.85 lakh in Nellore district, have been inoculated since the beginning of the vaccination drive on January 16 in the region.
“Nellore is perhaps the first district in the country in using the entire vaccine stock fully,” Joint Collector(Health) N. Prabhkar Reddy told The Hindu . The district administration had sought replenishment of six lakh doses of vaccine, said Nellore District Medical and Health Officer S. Rajyalakshmi while taking stock of the health situation in the district.
In Prakasam too, whatever little leftover stocks the district administration had got exhausted on Sunday, District Medical and Health Officer P. Ratnavalli said. “We are awaiting the stock to continue the drive,” she said. As many as 2.56 lakh persons have been vaccinated so far in the district, which had 1,221 active cases as on Sunday.