Guwahati, Aug 20 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that the state government has so far vaccinated over 1.51 crore people in the state for coronavirus with 2.44 lakh people jabbed daily during the last ten days.

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Sarma, who was speaking at a press conference here on the completion of 100 days in office, said a total 1,51,57,486 people have been vaccinated in the state so far with 1,25,09,521 given their first dose and 26,47,965 their second one.

He said the overall vaccine wastage has significantly reduced to -2.62 per cent for which the state government could administer additional four lakh jabs, he said.

"We have been able to save vaccines as our frontline workers are giving 11 doses from the ten available in a vial by using cutting edge technology," he said adding Assam is now known as a vaccine surplus state as it has given more doses than it has received.

Sarma said the number of COVID-19 cases in the state has reduced from 6,258 on May 11 to 713 on August 19. The positivity rate has also declined from 9.13 per cent to 0.73 per cent during the same period.

"Our government took over the reins hen the devastating second wave of COVID-19 was ravaging Assam and we adopted the strategy of test, treat, trace and vaccinate," he said.

The state government has also made adequate preparations to minimise the impact of a probable third wave, which is being predicted by many health experts, Sarma added.

In the past three months the number of ICU beds in medical college hospitals have been increased from 793 to 1,308 and from 145 to 232 in district hospitals, he said.

Sarma said that following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's advisory for adoption of a humane approach while tackling the pandemic, the state government has resorted to targeted restrictions instead of complete lockdowns with approximately 12,500 micro-containment zones.

(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)