With Telangana crossing the 1 crore COVID–19 vaccination doses mark on Friday, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar said that the State could do this on account of its strategic approach, and emphasised that a larger number of people can be vaccinated once more doses are made available.
According to data released by the Directorate of Public Health and Family Welfare, as many as 1,00,53,358 doses were administered so far in the State, out of which 86,06,292 were first doses and were 14,47,066 second doses.
Data also showed that the highest number of doses were administered in Hyderabad. While 19,19,324 were first doses, 3,11,331 were second doses, bringing the total number of doses administered in the State capital to 22,30,655. This was followed by Rangareddy district with a total of 12,78,287 doses. Of this 11,31,432 were first doses and 1,46,855 second doses. In Medak district, 11,86,140 vaccination doses were administered so far of which 10,17,204 were first doses and 1,68,936 were second doses.
Describing the day as a ‘red letter day’, the Chief Secretary said that as a part of its strategy adopted by the State, high risk groups and superspreaders were vaccinated first. They numbered around 26 lakh. He said that those under this group were prone to coming in contact with a large number of people, and that vaccinating one person was akin to saving many people.
With educational institutions scheduled to reopen shortly, Mr. Kumar said that every teaching and non-teaching staff can get vaccinated at the nearest government vaccination centre. The beneficiary would only have to produce the educational institution-issued identity card before getting the shot.
Mr. Kumar said that around 2 lakh persons are being vaccinated everyday and added that this number could be increased to 7 lakh to 8 lakh if the number of doses the State gets increases. He also opined that the State had issued global tenders but was unsuccessful on this front.
Director of Public Health and Family Welfare G. Srinivasa Rao also spoke.
