News Brief
Gujarat's Covid-19 Vaccination Drive
Officials in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city stated on 24 October that more than 2,000 elderly and differently-abled individuals have received their Covid-19 jabs at home as part of the local civic body's campaign to reach the aim of 100 per cent inoculation.
At a time when India celebrated the 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses administered milestone last week, as part of a massive inoculation campaign Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) inaugurated this special vaccination drive for those over the age of 50 and differently-abled people aged 18 and up on 7 October.
An AMC official said: “Till date, a total of 2,077 beneficiaries have availed the facility of getting their first or second doses of COVID-19 vaccine at their homes.”
According to the official, so far, over 2,500 people have registered for the service either online or by dialling the local civic body's helpline numbers. He said that anyone—who fall under the mentioned categories—who wants to get vaccinated at home can register online or by calling the AMC's phone numbers.
“The zonal health department will verify their registration and send a team of health officials to their houses on the date and time (between 9am and 7pm in a day) provided by the beneficiaries," the official added.
Through initiatives like this, the local administration is making numerous attempts to reach the goal of 100 per cent vaccination. The city authority recently gave one litre of edible oil and lucky draw initiatives as incentives to individuals who were unwilling to get vaccinated, particularly those from slum regions.
Officials from the health department have also been stationed at bus stops to vaccinate passengers who have not yet received their jabs. Additionally, local authorities have also designated 21 community halls where vaccinations will be administered till 10pm every day.
According to the AMC, 26,274 people in the city received their first or second doses of immunisation on 23 October. Meanwhile, the state recorded 24 new coronavirus cases on the same day, bringing the total number of cases in Gujrat to 8,26,402.
As reported, Ahmedabad had the newest cases with 9, followed by Valsad with 5, Surat with 6, Navsari with 2, Junagadh and Kheda with 1 case each. However, on 23 October, no new Covid-19-related deaths were registered in the state, and the death toll remained at 10,087, according to government data.
In the case of all over India, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on 25 October, the country reported 14,306 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. As per the figures updated at 8am, the death toll has risen to 4,54,712, with 443 daily fatalities.