1st dose: HP exceeds projected target of 100% vaccination

Shimla: The small hill state, which felt devastated by the second wave of Covid-19, has however achieved a landmark of sorts by exceeding the projected eligible population for the first dose of vaccination in the state, much ahead of its own target of August 31.

State's health secretary Amitabh Awasthi informed Millennium Post that Himachal Pradesh has become first state in the country to achieve this success even as many big states are either nearing 50 percent or below this mark.

Against a projected eligible population, above 18 years, as per census was 53,77,820 but the health department has already vaccinated 54,65,698 persons as on August 28.

Along with this, 17.70 lakh persons have also been administered second dose.

The performance of the state has been rated highly well in the country where the vaccine hesitancy has been the biggest reason, an advantage which Himachal Pradesh has enjoyed over all over the states.

Awasthi said "now that we have a successful model for the vaccination, the state has already embarked upon a plan to cover the entire population with a second dose by November 30, 2021.We may even achieve the target before the deadline".

To achieve this, there will be an approach based on every individual district and targeted population. There is only one area i.e. Malana –a landlocked village in Kullu valley, which has its own traditions, where the vaccine hesitancy has come as a biggest factor.

Initially the entire population had refused to take the jab till their 'Devta' took a decision. After Devta's nod, the villagers including local panchayat Pradhan get themselves vaccinated.

In Himachal Pradesh , 3576 persons have died of Covid while the number of persons cured are 2,07,288.

The active cases in the state are 1750 as on August 29–a drop of nearly a 1000 during the past 20 days.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the restrictions imposed in the state to prevent spread of Covid will continue.The schools have been closed till September 4.

The state has suffered a huge loss to the tourism sector due to Covid lockdown and the revival of the industry has now been marred by heavy monsoon rains and landslides, thus, restricting the movement of the tourists.