Odisha Ranks 3rd In COVID-19 Vaccination Drive, Over 1.3 Lakh Inoculated So far: Health Dept

Bhubaneswar: With the vaccination of over 1.3 lakh healthcare workers as on Friday, Odisha ranked third in the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country, said the State Health and Family Welfare Department director Bijay Panigrahi on Saturday.

The State was on the third spot in the vaccination drive as per the data released by the Health Ministry on Friday, he said. "We will continue our vaccination drive and try to reach the top in the country. Yesterday also, we successfully conducted the process and 16,384 healthcare workers took the vaccine shots as against the targetted 13,195 persons," said Panigrahi.

The vaccination drive will continue today at 221 session sites and around 20,330 healthcare workers will get the shots. All healthcare workers will get the vaccine and 1,30,007 persons have already been inoculated, he said.

He reiterated that Covaxin will be used in Bhubaneswar while Covishield will be sent to other districts. "Beneficiaries need to complete vaccination using the same vaccine as there is no option for interchangeability of vaccines and any change in the vaccine may create problems. Those who have got the first dose of a particular vaccine, will get another shot of the same vaccine after 28 days," said Panigrahi.

Speaking on the 2nd phase of the vaccinate drive, he said that the frontline workers will get the vaccine in the next phase and the total number of persons getting the shots will be known after January 25.