By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 18, 2021: The Odisha government has asked district collectors to prepare village and panchayat level micro plans for achieving hundred per cent vaccination against COVID-19 for people above 18 years.

A target has been set to administer the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 90 per cent of eligible beneficiaries by the end of this month and hundred per cent by December, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R K Sharma said.

The official was speaking at a high-level review meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra.

Sharma said that 2.68 crore people of the state had received the first dose of the vaccine and around 1.35 crore second doses had been administered till Saturday last. The inoculation rate in the state was better than the national average, he said.

The number of adults in Odisha who received the first dose was 82.4 per cent against the national average of 79.8 per cent, while 41.5 per cent of the population received the second dose against the national average of 38.4 per cent, Sharma said.

Asserting that the micro plan should be implemented on campaign mode through door-to-door survey, the chief secretary said that more vaccination centres should be opened at the village and gram panchayat levels.

“We are now in a transitional phase of the pandemic. There has been a substantial reduction in the number of infected cases. At this point, we have to intensify the vaccination drive before the possible third wave of the pandemic hits,” he said.