Kochi: Even as Kerala boasts of achieving higher social development index as compared to other states in the country, the state is much behind in vaccinating people against Covid-19 among frontline workers according to the recent data released by Union health ministry.
The state is only on 23rd position in terms of national vaccination average. While national average for vaccinating the first dose is 91 per cent, Kerala tally is pegged at 74 per cent. The national average for the second dose is 83 percent whereas in Kerala it is only 60 per cent. The national average of vaccination in the age group of 18 to 45 is 21 per cent while Kerala has managed to cover just 16 per cent. Besides that Kerala had not utilised the quota of vaccines given to it, Union Health Ministry said.
Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi have failed to utilise the vaccine doses to their fullest. In Kerala, 3.4 million shots were administered, while the total number of doses provided by the Centre was 6.3 million from January to march. Vaccination against Covid-19 in the country began on January 16 with priority given to frontline workers in its first two phases till 31 March.
