Kerala State Police Chief Loknath Behera led the list of frontline workers who received the Covid-19 vaccination in the state on Thursday and was joined by the rest of the force, ASHA and anganwadi workers, panchayat, municipality and revenue officials as the second phase of the vaccination drive rolled out.

The list of those receiving the first dose of the vaccine included Additional Director General of Police Manoj Abraham, and District Collector Navjot Khosa in Thiruvananthapuram; Additional District Magistrate KA Mohammed Shafi in Ernakulam; and District Collector M Anjana, Police Chief D Shilpa and Sub-Collector Rajiv Kumar Choudhary in Kottayam.

Also read: Covid-19: Kerala CM calls for heightened vigil

First phase drawing to close

Nearly 3.9 lakh health care workers had registered for receiving the vaccine in the first phase which is drawing to a close. So far, 3,32,915 health workers have been vaccinated, with 2,140 healthcare workers and 5,450 frontline workers receiving the vaccine on Thursday.

Sources said that 1,29,258 frontline workers have registered so far, including 78,701 employees of the Home Department; 6,600 municipality employees; 16,735 revenue officials and 27,222 panchayat employees. On Thursday, 167 vaccination sites were arranged across the State.

Lower test positivity

Meanwhile, the state reported a test positivity rate of 7.37 per cent, a matter of relief under the prevailing circumstances, even as the active case pool logged in lower. With 5,692 recoveries on Thursday, the active case pool has dropped to 63,915 cases, which, however, happens to be the highest in the country.

On Thursday, 16 more deaths were added to the official list of fatalities, taking the toll ever since the pandemic began to 3,936. Official reports said the number of critically ill Covid-19 patients being treated in ICUs in various hospitals was 775, with 225 of them requiring ventilator support.

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