Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 18
“From March 2021 till date, only 2 out of 404 COVID-19 deaths have been found to be fully vaccinated (2 weeks completed after second dose,” stated the Department Of Health and Family Welfare (DoHFW), Nagaland, on July 17, stressing on the “protection” given by COVID-19 vaccines.
“88% of deaths were not vaccinated even by a single dose and even among those who were vaccinated by a single dose, it is not determined yet if 2 weeks had passed after the vaccination,” added the DoHFW in its July 17 issue of the ‘Weekly COVID-19 Bulletin.’
As Nagaland started the vaccination drive on January 16 along with the rest of India and initially the gap between the 1st and 2nd dose was four to eight weeks, the month of March seems be have taken as the threshold to calculate fully vaccinated data. Phase-I of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy was focussed on protecting Health Care Workers (HCWs) and Front Line Workers (FLWs).
Phase-II was initiated from March 1, 2021 targeting the 60 years and above as well as those above the age of 45 with co-morbidities.
Thereafter from April 1, it was opened to those in the 45 years and above category and later expanded to 18 and above from May 1.
Meanwhile, reflecting on the fatality data, the DoHFW maintained that “COVID-19 vaccines have targeted the most high-risk groups initially and the protection seen in real time even among the high risk groups is very significant.”
It further advised that with the delta variant in circulation, it is highly advisable to “get the second dose for full protection and remain very cautious till the full vaccination is completed.”
Quoting the European Center for Disease Control, the Bulletin further stated: “Preliminary evidence suggests that both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are needed to provide adequate protection against the Delta variant.”
As reported earlier, the DoHFW’s the July 17 Bulletin further noted an increase in weekly new cases (689) compared to the previous week (405).
“Weekly new cases have increased for the first time in 7 weeks. The state remains yet again at an overly critical juncture,” it added.
Among lowest
vaccination figure in NE
As of July 16, Nagaland has administered 6.60 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine across the state and 44% of eligible beneficiaries (18+ population) have received at least one dose, according to the DoHFW.
However, the figure is among the lowest both in absolute terms as well as ratio to total estimated population among the North East States.
“More than 70% of the population is still susceptible to COVID-19 infection and vaccination needs to be ramped up urgently along with strict maintenance of COVID-19 appropriate behaviors,” the Department stated.
According to CoWIN Dashboard, as of 8:30 PM on July 18, Nagaland had administrated a total of 6, 64,639 doses, the second lowest in NE after Sikkim at 6, 00,587 doses.
However, as per a Union Health Ministry’s release on May 1 this year, the projected mid-year population as on October 1, 2020 in Sikkim was just 6,73,000 as against 21,82,000 in Nagaland.
Thus, percentage wise, Nagaland pale in comparison with Sikkim.
Apart from Sikkim, all the other NE States had administrated higher doses than Nagaland (see table). While Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura have higher estimated population than Nagaland, the other two- Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, had lower population than Nagaland.
