Published on May 02, 2021
AHMEDABAD: Nirav Turakhiya, 35, a resident of Satellite, was among the recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine along with his wife Sneha, 33. “I lost my mother-in-law to Covid-19 last month.
Despite our best attempts, we could not arrange for oxygen or hospital bed for her when she turned critical. The loss motivated us to ensure that all our nears and dears get vaccinated. It would at least save patients from turning critical,” said Turakhiya, who got vaccinated with four family members.
As the pandemic rages on in the state, Gujarat witnessed high turnout for vaccination in the 18 plus category with 55,235 persons turning up for the jab against projection of 60,000, giving 92% vaccination on the first day. While several could not book slots, some could not find their names in the list at the booth. But overall, the inoculation went smooth in 10 selected districts, said state health department officials.
But as the state has rolled out phase IV of the vaccination, analysis of the data available on CoWIN portal shows that 1 crore from Gujarat have got the first shot (as the state health department figure showed 98.11 lakh), covering one-sixth or 16.7% of the population if one takes the base of 2011 Census.
But the spread of vaccination is not uniform –Porbandar administered 1.42 lakh first doses against a population of 5.85 lakh, giving 24.4% coverage, whereas Surendranagar only covered 8.2% of population (1.43 lakh first doses for the population of 17.56 lakh).
In fact, more than a quarter (26%) of the shots were administered in the eight municipal corporations with Ahmedabad and Surat cities recording 9.38 lakh and 7.64 lakh vaccinations so far.
The analysis also showed that Gujarat has used Covishield as its primary vaccine with over 90% getting the vaccine, as only 9.8% got Covaxin. The sex ratio of the recipients was 53% men and 47% women.
“The vaccination has gained steam in the third phase and we have got very good responses from both urban and rural areas. There is rise in awareness and amid rise in cases, people see it as a sure-shot way to remain safe,” said Dr Nayan Jani, state immunization officer. “We are hopeful of higher participation in the fourth phase as all districts will ramp up the drive.”
Parth Shastri Archive 