Telangana administers Covid vaccines to 100 per cent eligible beneficiaries above 18

Hyderabad: Telangana has completed administering Covid vaccines to 100 per cent of the eligible beneficiaries who are above 18 years on Thursday, Director of Public Health (DPH), Dr G Srinivasa Rao, said. Launched on January 16, 2021, initially for healthcare workers and later expanded to other vulnerable groups before making vaccines available for all, the […]

Hyderabad: Telangana has completed administering Covid vaccines to 100 per cent of the eligible beneficiaries who are above 18 years on Thursday, Director of Public Health (DPH), Dr G Srinivasa Rao, said.

Launched on January 16, 2021, initially for healthcare workers and later expanded to other vulnerable groups before making vaccines available for all, the Covid vaccination drive for individuals above 18 years was completed in a span of 14-months.

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“Adminsitering 5 lakh doses of Covid vaccines to eligible beneficiaries is not an easy task. Universal Covid administration drive went a long way in blunting the impact of the third Covid wave, which was driven by Omicron variant. As on Thursday, we have completed administering Covid vaccines to all the eligible individuals above 18 years, which means the beneficiaries have received both the doses of Covid vaccine,” he said.

Despite the recent rise of the BA.2 variant of the Omicron and its spread in China and other South East Asian countries, the DPH maintained that higher percentage of Covid vaccination and natural immunity among people is enough to thwart the threat of any new surge in Covid infections.

“During third Covid wave, in Telangana, 70 per cent of the cases were BA2 variant while 30 per cent were caused by BA1 variant, which helped people gain natural immunity. We believe the third wave was quickly contained due to vaccination. By this year-end, we are expecting that Covid will become localised or endemic in nature,” he pointed out.

Dr Rao urged parents of children between the age of 12 years and 14 years to get their children vaccinated. “In Hyderabad and Rangareddy district, the vaccination percentage in this age group is less. Our teams did not get permission to administer Covid vaccines in private schools in Hyderabad. At present, only 64 per cent, out of 11 lakh eligible children have received the first dose of Covid vaccine,” he added.

 

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