Aurangabad: Even after the seven months of the launch of the vaccination program against Covid-19, three of the four people from the target beneficiaries in the rural areas of Aurangabad Regency still have not received the first dose of vaccines.
From the target of more than 21.11 population lakh, almost no less than 23.35% was vaccinated with a single dose so far.
The total number of vaccinated populations fully in rural areas of Aurangabad Regency (excluding city boundaries) is almost not 7.16%.
Aurangabad District Health Officer Sudhakar Shelke said on Tuesday that inadequate dose stock is the reason behind a lower vaccine coverage in rural areas.
“Rural areas of the Aurangabad district do not get a dose of vaccines proportionally with populations.
The city limits of Aurangabad get more doses compared to rural areas because of the spread of Covid-19 more in the past,” he said.
The health authority said at least two third of the total vaccine supply received by Aurangabad Regency must be transferred to rural areas.
“It’s no case that there is no takeover for vaccination programs in rural areas.
If the further supply increases as a policy decision, our vaccination coverage will increase gradually,” Shelke said, adding that vaccination status in its jurisdiction is in accordance with the state level trends.
Aurangabad city limits, which have a population target of 11.78 lakh for ongoing vaccination programs, has been inoculating 38.6% of beneficiaries with the first dose with 16.2% fully vaccinated population has received a dose.
With five fresh covid cases in rural areas and two within city limits, the total number of active cases of viral diseases in Aurangabad Regency increased to 185.
The district has registered more than 1.47 lakh cases of covid during the current pandemic, including 3,523 deaths until Monday, said.