Telangana to touch 3 crore vaccination mark soon

Hyderabad: Telangana is on the threshold of reaching a major milestone in its fight against Covid by administering 3 crore vaccine doses in a day or two. The vaccination drive is expected to enhance immunity levels among the community, contain the Delta variant, and reduce stress on hospitals, health officials here on Wednesday said. So far, close to 2.9 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the State of which 2 crore doses are the first dose while the remaining 90 lakh are the second dose. Overall, there are 2.87 crore eligible persons above 18 years in the State who have to receive 5.74 crore doses of Covid vaccines.

“Extensive vaccination has played a vital role in containing Covid-19 in Telangana. There has been no instance of a surge or a breakout of new Covid cases after Bathukamma and Dasara festivals. We urge people who are yet to get their second dose to get vaccinated at the earliest,” Director of Public Health (DPH) Dr G Srinivasa Rao said. Interacting with presspersons here on Wednesday, Dr Rao said that roughly there were 36 lakh individuals who have not received the second dose. “They missed the cut-off limit to get the second dose and are susceptible to Covid-19, as they only have partial immunity,” he said.

Among individuals who have received both the doses of Covid vaccines, the percentage of breakthrough infections is between 5 per cent and 10 per cent. However, among persons who have received just one dose, breakthrough infections are about 30 per cent. “That’s why we are stressing that persons should get the second dose,” Dr Rao said.

The buffer stock of Covid vaccines in October is close to 50 lakh in Telangana. “There is always a chance of a new and more virulent variant of SARS-CoV-2 emerging from any part of the world. We urge people to get vaccinated, as there is no shortage of vaccines,” he said. Individuals can simply walk into any State-run Covid centres and get vaccinated. “There is no need for individuals to register, as they can just walk into the nearest government health facility and get vaccinated by producing Aadhaar card,” Dr Rao added.

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.

Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .