Over 5,55,312 children in the age group of 15 to 18 years in Gujarat were administered the Covid-19 vaccination on the first day of the drive on Monday, as per CoWIN dashboard data as of 10 pm.
Among the major cities, Vadodara topped the list, claiming to have covered more than 19% of its target children population on the first day, followed by Rajkot at 17% and Ahmedabad at 14%.
The vaccine was given to 36,871 children in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) jurisdiction, with the east zone receiving the most (8,104), the south zone receiving 6,365, and the west zone receiving 5,495. With 2,510 doses administered, the south west zone saw the least vaccination in this age group. This age group is estimated to have 2.50 lakh beneficiaries in the AMC and Ahmedabad rural localities combined.
The vaccination drive in the city was kicked off from Podar International School in Chandkheda, Ahmedabad, in the presence of city mayor Kirit Parmar, municipal commissioner Lochan Sehra, deputy municipal commissioner of health Praveen Chaudhary, local councillors of the ward and other municipal officials. Session sites were held at 80 private and municipal schools through 80 urban health centres.
In Surat city, 26,124 students got doses in 120 schools with the vaccination programme postponed in some schools due to ongoing examinations. The SMC has identified 1.92 lakh eligible beneficiaries in this age group across 700 government and private schools in the city. On the first day of the drive, Surat city covered 13 per cent of its target children population.
In Valsad district, 23,414 eligible students across 94 session sites were administered the doses, of the estimated 91,000 eligible beneficiaries in the district. Around 1,000 vaccinators were involved in the drive in Surat that started at 9 am, while in Valsad, 120 vaccinators were at work.
SMC medical officer Dr Pradip Umrigar said, “We have done micro-level planning to carry out vaccination of students… We are hopeful that we will be able to complete the target by Saturday… if needed, we will increase the number of health officials and the number of schools. We have appointed around 1,000 nodal officials in various schools to coordinate and make arrangements.”
In Rajkot, the health department of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) organised vaccination camps in 71 educational institutes and administered the first dose to 14,300 students by 4 pm Monday.
“Our goal for Monday was 15,000 to 18,000 students, and by 4 p.m., our teams had administered first doses to 14,300 students.” “This figure is likely to be revised because the drive will last until 7 p.m.,” said Amit Arora, Rajkot’s municipal commissioner. On the first day, vaccination camps were held in 71 educational institutions.
“The children who are out of school or colleges can also walk into these vaccination camps or at our UHC (urban health centres),” the municipal commissioner added.