Gurgaon Tuesday became the first district in Haryana to inoculate 100 percent of its eligible population with both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. The district health department officials said that against an eligible population of 18,03,655, the district had administered a total of 41,28,596 doses – 23, 19, 720 for first dose (a coverage of 128.6 percent, also including people who came from outside the district) and 18,08,876 for the second dose (100.3 percent).
According to data from the district health department, till December 20, a total of 88,815 health care workers and 95,416 frontline workers had been vaccinated.
In the age bracket 18-44 years, a total of 28,54,294 doses – 16,40,210 first and 12,14,084 second – have been administered. For people between 45-59 years of age, 6,90,642 doses have been administered, and a total of 3,99,429 doses have been administered for people above the age of 60.
Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurgaon district, said, “Gurgaon is the first district in the state to have achieved 100 percent vaccination of all eligible population. This is a milestone… an achievement. But, the vaccination drive will continue, especially for people whose second dose is due.”
Yadav credited the success to several campaigns undertaken by the health department, including drive-through vaccination camps at malls; mega vaccination drives; and special camps for senior citizens, transgender persons, specially-abled people, autorickshaw drivers and widows.
Health officials said Gurgaon was among the first districts to have started drive-through vaccinations in May 2021. Since January 16, when vaccinations began, as many as 40,441 vaccination sessions have been conducted. On November 3, the district started ‘Har Ghar dastak’ – a door-to-door campaign in which health workers visited 6,97,672 houses and vaccinated 2,53,357 people.
Special sessions for pregnant women on the 9th of every month were set up in which 8,431 women were inoculated. Officials said camps were set up in industrial areas for workers who couldn’t travel to far off vaccination sites.
“Since inoculations began on January 16, the department had been working on a war footing to achieve this target. We tied up with societies, condominiums, workplaces, RWAs, NGOs and set up vaccination camps at malls, marketplaces, industrial areas, religious places, among other places. Another key facet was setting up vaccination camps on the 9th of every month for pregnant women. All these initiatives helped in achieving this feat in 11 months,” said Yadav.
“The door-to-door vaccination campaign was the last step, which helped us in achieving success. I want to thank residents of Gurgaon and all stakeholders for their cooperation and contribution in this endeavour,” added Yadav.
The CMO said that in the next phase, officials have been directed to conduct random surveys of 1,000 people, in which people who are found unvaccinated shall be administered doses. “The survey will be conducted in different areas and accordingly the pace and target of vaccinations shall be set,” he said.
On the possibility of booster shots and vaccination for children being initiated soon, Yadav said, “We are yet to receive guidelines from the Centre and State government in this regard. We have collected data for children in the 6-18 age bracket from schools and for children below the age of 6, data is already available from the polio programme campaign. We are prepared when the instructions come.”
He added that with the new Omicron variant of Covid, it was important that people continue to maintain Covid appropriate behaviour. “Though hospitalisations and mortality is relatively low in Omicron cases so far, it is still important to be cautious.”
In October, the third serological survey had found antibodies among 78.3 percent of the population in Gurgaon district.
In the age bracket 18-44 years, a total of 28,54,294 doses – 16,40,210 first and 12,14,084 second – have been administered. (File) 
Share
