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Kerala has now administered more than two crore Covid vaccine cumulatively in first and second doses (1.41 crore first doses and 60.49 lakh second doses) even as the state inoculated a total of 5,15,241 people on Saturday, highest so far for a single day. On July 24, the state had vaccinated 4.91 lakh people.
Health Minister Veena George said that the state had received only 1.82 crore (1,82,61,470) doses till date, out which it managed to vaccinate more than two crore (2,01,39,113). In fact, it managed to administer extra doses available per vial when many states squandered nearly 18 per cent.
Difficult inoculation task
A five-ml vial of the vaccine has enough material for 10 doses or 10 people. This means each person requires 0.5 ml of vaccine to be inoculated. But taking out precisely 0.5 ml of dose through the vial for hundreds of doses each day can prove to be difficult, comes with expertise and through experience.
Generally, there is a 1.1 per cent wastage of vaccine in each vial. This results in only 8-9 people receiving a dose from a single vial instead of the full 10. A vial once opened also needs to be used up within a certain time limit. If the doses from the vial are not administered in time, they have to be thrown away.
Health workers trained
Kerala was quick to implement strict protocols for storage, transportation and administration of vaccine. Training was provided to all healthcare workers according to the guidelines set out by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as well. On top of that, special attention was paid to vaccine inventory.
According to the minister, the state has distributed 1,40,89,658 first doses and 60,49,455 second doses so far. This raises the proportion of the population covered by the first dose to 40.14 per cent based on the year 2021 estimate of population, and the second dose to 17.23 per cent.
More women than men
As for those falling in the 18+ age group, 52 per cent has received the first dose and 23 per cent, the second dose. The respective coverage for the 45+ group is 79 per cent (89,98,405 persons) and 42 per cent (47,44,870 persons). In the 18-45 age group, 25 per cent received the first dose.
A special feature is that more women (1,04,71,907) are vaccinated than men (96,63,620). Vaccination started from January 16 in the state, first among health workers. Health workers and Covid frontline warriors have been covered to the extent of 100 per cent (first dose) and 82 per cent (second dose).
The Health Minister said that the state received a fresh supply of four lakh vaccine by Saturday night. The consignment was mainly the Covishield vaccine, with 1,35,440 doses being allocated for regional vaccination stores in Thiruvananthapuram; 1,57,460 doses in Kochi; and 1,07,100 in Kozhikode.
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