Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar may have become the first major urban centre in the country to have achieved its vaccination target.
On basis of the 2011 Census, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had set a target to administer 18 lakh doses in the city, which was reached by July 30.
“We had set a target to administer 18 lakh doses in Bhubaneswar on the basis of the population of the 2011 Census. By July 30, the total number of vaccine doses administered in Bhubaneswar are 18,35,903,” said Sanjay Kumar Singh, Commissioner, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, while clarifying that every person in the city had not been vaccinated, nor was it possible to do so.
Mr. Singh said, “Now people from many peripheral areas are coming to Bhubaneswar to get vaccinated. There may be a few who are left to get a second dose. We are almost on the verge of saturation.”
“In Bhubaneswar, 3.25 lakh people aged above 45 years were targeted to be vaccinated while 5.17 lakh were in the 18-44 years age group. In terms of doses, we have achieved the target,” he reiterated.
According to the BMC, 10,59,753 persons have been administered the first dose in the city while 7,76,150 have received the second dose.
The BMC Commissioner said, “Our confidence in being close to saturation stems from the fact that 70% of the people infected every day are found to have received two doses. Similarly, 15-17% of those infected have got the first dose. There are also infections among people aged below 18 years. It establishes that we have almost touched entire population of eligible persons.”
As Bhubaneswar is closer to saturation, the municipal corporation has announced that anyone can walk into any vaccination centre to get inoculated from Monday. “They can either come to the centre with their CoWIN registration number or we will register them on the spot,” Mr. Singh said.
Earlier, only Covaxin was administered in Bhubaneswar city while Covishield was used in the rest of the State. Later, stock of Covaxin was sent to the Berhampur Municipal Corporation area.
