Vaccination / Andaman & Nicobar fully vaccinates 100% of adult population against COVID

Port Blair: The entire eligible population in Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been given both doses of the anti-Covid vaccine, said the UT administration on Sunday. 

With this, Andaman and Nicobar has become the first state/UT to achieve the milestone using only Covisheild.

“A&N achieved 100% Covid vaccine coverage making it 1st State/UT to achieve the feat using only Covishield. UT Admin overcame Insurmountable odds for this extraordinary feat in one of the remotest part of world (sic)," said the administration in a tweet. 

It said that the vaccination drive in the UT was extremely challenging as the archipelago is made up of 836 islands spread over 800 km, separated by rough sea, extremely dense jungle, hills and exposed to inclement weather.

"The Boldest Step under the able leadership of Hon'ble Lt. Governor @Admiral_DKJoshi was vaccinating most untouched Tribes of the world in A&NI. It was a leap of faith but was necessary to protect them from COVID19 (sic)," it added.

As per a health bulletin, 2.87 lakh people have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in the UT against the target of 2.86 lakh beneficiaries, leading to 100.41% vaccination.

A total of 74.67% of the islands' total population has been inoculated, it said.

India's vaccination coverage 

Meanwhile, India's cumulative vaccination coverage exceeded 137 crore doses on Saturday. 

"India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 137 Crore landmark milestone (137,37,66,189) today. More than 69 lakh (69,21,097) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm today. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late tonight," read a release issued by the Union health ministry. 

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on 16 January with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on 2 February.

The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced from 1 March for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from 1 April.

The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years to be vaccinated from 1 May.