Pune: Nearly a month into drive, 56% of youths aged 15-17 have received first Covid shot
Even as schools and colleges in Pune are set to reopen on Feb 1, health authorities said 3.09 lakh of the total 5.53 lakh beneficiaries in the age group have been vaccinated.
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Covid vaccination drive for those aged between 15-18 at Shivarkar hospital in Pune. (Express photo by Ashish Kale)Almost a month since the Covid vaccination drive commenced for youngsters in the 15-17 age group, around 3.09 lakh teens in Pune district have got their first shot of Covaxin.
Even as schools and colleges in Pune are set to reopen on February 1, health authorities admitted that only 56% of the total 5.53 lakh beneficiaries in the age group have been given the first dose. These teens will be due for their second dose from February 3.
“We had hoped to inoculate this group of beneficiaries by the month-end and have been stepping up awareness,” Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, Assistant Director, Health (Pune circle) told The Indian Express. The Pune circle includes Pune, Satara and Solapur districts.
According to a recent district health department report, the Pune Municipal Corporation area alone has an estimated 2.24 lakh beneficiaries of which 34% have received the first shot. Pimpri-Chinchwad has roughly 1.16 lakh eligible beneficiaries in the 15-17 age group of which 43% have got the first shot of the vaccine, while 86% of the 2.11 lakh beneficiaries in Pune Rural have also been inoculated.
Not many takers for booster dose
The district health authorities said there were not many takers for the precautionary dose. An official pointed out that many have adopted a wait-and-watch stance since those infected with the Omicron variant have mild symptoms and recovery is almost within a week. According to a health department report, around 2.65 lakh persons who are 60 years and above are eligible for the booster shot of which 23% (60,413) have already taken it.
Overall, in Pune district more than 1.61 crore doses of the Covid vaccine have been administered. Of the total 83.42 lakh beneficiaries in the district, 70.77 lakh (85%) have been administered both doses of the vaccine.
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