Why has COVID vaccination of teenagers in Odisha slowed down? 

The fear of COVID-19 fourth wave notwithstanding, the vaccination of teenagers has slowed down in Odisha as around 58 per cent of the eligible beneficiaries of the 15 to 18 years age group have been administered both the doses.

The fourth phase of the inoculation drive launched for teenagers on January 3 was expected to conclude by April. So far, 86 per cent of the targeted beneficiaries have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 67 per cent of them have been vaccinated with two doses.

As per the Health department statistics, of an estimated 23.65 lakh eligible beneficiaries in the 15 to 18 year age group, 20.45 lakh teenagers have received their first dose and 13.76 lakh have received both the doses till April 14.

Andhra Pradesh is at the top in the country with 102.9 per cent of the targeted population in the age group of 15 to 18 years being fully vaccinated. The southern State is followed by Jammu and Kashmir with 83.6 per cent and Himachal Pradesh with 80.8 per cent. The national average of second dose coverage in the 15 to 18 years age group is 54.3 per cent.

Less than 60 per cent of those eligible in the 15-18 years age group have been administered both the doses of COVID vaccine in Boudh, Deogarh, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Angul, Bhadrak and Puri.

Jagatsinghpur topped the list with 92 per cent double dose vaccination among adolescents, followed by 87 per cent in Bhubaneswar, 77 per cent in Balasore 75 per cent in Ganjam, 72 per cent in Cuttack, 71 per cent each in Malkangiri and Koraput and 70 per cent in Khurda.

The vaccination of the 12 to 14 years age group is also not encouraging as only 0.13 per cent of the eligible population have been administered with double doses. The COVID vaccination for the 12 to 14 years age group had begun on March 16. Of an estimated 15.21 lakh children, including 7.4 lakh girls, in the 12 to 14 years age group, 10.77 lakh have received the first dose and only 2,031 received both doses. The beneficiaries in the ten districts have not yet received their second dose.

Director of Family Welfare and Nodal Officer of COVID vaccination, Dr Bijay Panigrahi, admitted that the daily vaccination has come down from a range of 1.5 lakh last month to around 50,000 now. "We have opened around 2,700 vax centres. Districts have been asked to mobilise those who have not got their shots to the centres on priority and campaign in educational institutions to cover all eligible by the end of the month," he added.

At a glance
- Highest 1.15 lakh beneficiaries in the 12 to 17 age group in Ganjam administered with at least one dose
- Beneficiaries in ten districts have not yet got their second dose
- So far, 3,928 people aged 18 years and above have received the precautionary dose after the government allowed booster shots by private hospitals