Nagaland continued to remain one of the lowest vaccinated states although more than 80% of all eligible beneficiaries have been administered with the first Covid19 dose in the country.
“Coverage remains much lower than the national coverage which could have a significant impact in the coming waves,” the state Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) said in its weekly bulletin.
It noted that in the past week from November 20-26, the vaccination tally increased 24,143 doses from the previous week’s 17,818 doses.
It was a likely effect of the door-to-door campaign. Since October, the state’s vaccination graph had plotted a downward course.
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The total of Covid19 vaccine doses administered in the state rose to 12.76 lakh, the IDSP said.
The health and family welfare department said though daily reported cases have declined, the state was still witnessing an average of 27 new hospitalisation and four deaths every week in the past month, indicating that Covid-19 transmission is still continuing in the community.
The IDSP said genderwise, more males have succumbed to the virus. The official death toll, as on November 27, was 680, out of which 475 were males.
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It said many countries around the world are already into the fourth wave. “Consequent waves will affect us unless we take adequate measures like masking and Covid19 vaccination,” it warned.
Meanwhile, the state government has directed the District Task Forces on Covid19 to monitor public gatherings, passenger vehicles, and mask-wearing in public places, to ensure that Covid19 testing and vaccination mandates are not violated.
A review meeting of the State Level War Room on Covid19 on Saturday said the measures were taken to ensure adherence to the SOPs issued by the state government, particularly in view of the impending festive season and the likelihood of an increase in large public gatherings and road travel.
During the meeting, which was chaired by Chief Secretary J Alama, the health and family welfare department gave an overview of the state’s Covid19 situation and underlined the need to take additional measures.
The district task forces have been asked to form teams to inspect public gatherings where attendance is beyond 50% capacity and up to 100% and to check that all the participants are fully vaccinated.
The teams formed will also inspect the passenger vehicles, in particular, those entering the district at the check posts, to check that the passenger(s) are complying with the vaccination and testing conditions.