Bhubaneswar, Nov 16 (PTI) The Odisha government Tuesday urged district collectors to prepare village and panchayat level micro plans for achieving hundred per cent vaccination against COVID-19 for people above 18 years.

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The state government has set a target to administer the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 90 per cent of eligible beneficiaries by November-end and hundred per cent by December, Additional Health Chief Secretary Raj Sharma said.

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Sharma was speaking at a high-level review meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra.

Pointing out that 2.68 crore people of the coastal state had received the first dose of the vaccine and around 1.35 crore second doses had been administered in the state till Saturday last, Sharma said the inoculation rate in the state was better than the national average.

The number of adults in Odisha who received the first dose was 82.4 per cent against the national average of 79.8 per cent, while 41.5 per cent of the population received the second dose against the national average of 38.4 per cent, Sharma said.

Asserting that the micro plan should be implemented on campaign mode through door-to-door survey, the chief secretary said that more vaccination centres should be opened at the village and gram panchayat levels.

Taking a district-wise review of the progress, Mohapatra said, “We are now in a transitional phase of the pandemic. There has been a substantial reduction in the number of infected cases.

“At this point, we have to intensify the vaccination drive before the possible third wave of the pandemic hits.”

National Health Mission Director Shalini Pandit said vaccine wastage has dipped to minus 5.3 per cent in the state, saving around 20 lakh doses.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)