The Gujarat government has organised a mega Covid-19 vaccination drive on Friday and is aiming to administer a record break 35 lakh vaccine doses in a single day.
Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state, administered 34.90 lakh vaccines on September 6, the highest in a day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state is eyeing a new vaccination record on Friday, which incidentally is also the PM’s 71st birthday. The highest number of doses administered in a day in Gujarat so far is 8.95 lakh, which was achieved on August 31.
“All preparations for the mega vaccination drive have been completed. The vaccines will be administered to the beneficiaries, who are yet to receive their first dose and recipients who are eligible to receive the second dose,” said Manoj Agarwal, additional chief secretary of Gujarat’s health department.
The Gujarat government is aiming for 100% vaccine coverage in 7,500 villages as a part of the mega vaccination drive.
In a statement, the Gujarat government said that 5.33 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the state as of September 15. Gujarat’s feat of having administered 8.3 lakh vaccine doses per million population so far puts the state far ahead of other large states. Gujarat ranks third among states in terms of absolute number of vaccines given after UP (9.02 crore doses) and Maharashtra (7.01 crore doses), according to Co-WIN data.
Aggarwal said the Gujarat government is also launching a special pilot project for providing healthcare services to workers and their families from September 17. As a part of the project, over 100 Deendayal healthcare centres will be established in areas housing workers and other underprivileged sections. Trained healthcare workers will be deployed at the centres. Medicines will be provided free of cost to beneficiaries at the centres.