Goa achieves 100% Covid-19 vaccination target

Goa has achieved the target of administering both the doses of anti-coronavirus vaccines to its entire eligible population of 11.66 lakh, a health official said on Wednesday.

After achieving the target, the state Directorate of Health Services has decided to close down all its Covid-19 vaccination centres and integrate them into the normal immunisation programme, the official said.

"The state has registered 100 per cent vaccination of the second dose of anti-coronavirus vaccines. As the process has completed, the Covid-19 vaccination centres in the state will be shut and the exercise will be integrated into the normal immunisation programme," Dr Ira Almeida, director of Health Services, Goa, told reporters here.

The Covid-19 vaccination exercise will continue, but it would now be in line with the schedule of normal immunisation programme, she said.

The Goa government's decision to close down the vaccination centre comes 13 months after it began the extensive exercise of administering the vaccine doses to it citizens. Dr Rajendra Borkar, state immunisation officer, said the target of vaccinating 11.66 lakh eligible beneficiaries has been completed.

"But 100 per cent vaccination does not mean that people will stop coming to get anti-coronavirus vaccine doses as there could be some who were earlier out of the state and would get the jabs on return," he said. The officer said that the Covid-19 immunisation went on uninterrupted even on the days when the state witnessed its worst cyclone and torrential rains. "I congratulate all the team members who worked tirelessly to achieve this target," he said.

Earlier, the coastal state had achieved the target of completing the first dose vaccination process in September last year. At that time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated Goans on the achievement. On Tuesday, the state recorded 85 coronavirus positive cases and three fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 2,44,287 and the death toll to 3,777. Goa's case positivity rate stood at 4.22 per cent, officials said.

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