Uttar Pradesh becomes first state to administer 13 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses

Representational Image (IANS)

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh crossed a major milestone on Friday when the number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered crossed the 13 crore mark--the only state in the country to achieve this number. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has issued directions to speed up vaccination and ordered the officers to deliver vaccine doses to 100% eligible population of the state by December 15.

About 66.14 per cent of the state’s total eligible adult population have received at least one dose, while around 21.51 per cent are fully immunized. More than 9.78 crore people have received the first dose, while over 3.21 crore people have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

It is noteworthy that Maharashtra lags behind UP in terms of COVID-19 vaccination. The state of Uttar Pradesh on October 25, crossed the significant landmark by becoming the first state with more than 3 crore people receiving both doses of Covid-19 vaccine so far. UP accounts for the maximum fully vaccinated population at 3.21crore, followed by Maharashtra’s 3.05 crore. The overall doses administered by Maharashtra stands at just 9.73 crore which is far less than the state of Uttar Pradesh.

CM issues a target to vaccinate 100 per cent eligible population

The Chief Minister has directed the officials to expedite the vaccination process and issued a deadline to vaccinate the 100 per cent eligible population coverage. He said, “Let us aim to cover all eligible with the COVID-19 vaccine dose by December 15, 2021."

He has asked the health officials to come up with a special drive to enthuse and motivate people towards vaccination against the deadly infection.

Cluster Model 2.0 to boost second dose coverage in Uttar Pradesh

After successfully administering the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to over  66.14 per cent of the total eligible population, the Uttar Pradesh government will now adopt the ‘Cluster Model 2.0’ from November 1 to improve the second dose coverage in the state.

Earlier this week, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad had ordered the health officials, “Giving priority to the full vaccination, the work of applying the second dose using the cluster model 2.0 should be done in those villages/localities where the first dose was successfully administered through the cluster model.”

The state-wide launch of the cluster model earlier in June for the Covid-19 vaccination drive made the task easy, equitable, and seamless, eliminating crucial roadblocks like transport and the digital divide.

Active Caseload below 100, 8 fresh cases in the last 24-hour

Coronavirus cases have fallen sharply in UP since the devastating months at the start of the year. The Active Caseload has been reduced to 98 pushing the Recovery Rate up to a remarkable 98.8 per cent. No active case has been registered in 40 districts of the state. The most populous state has conducted over 1.80 lakh Covid-19 tests.

Out of the 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh, as many as 8 positive cases were reported from merely 7 districts in the span of the last 24 hours. As many as 12 patients recovered in the span of the last 24 hours in the state. Till now, over 16.87 lakh coronavirus patients have recovered from the disease.