Andhra Pradesh to vaccinate 100% of eligible population against COVID-19 by March 2022

Andhra Pradesh government will vaccinate the entire eligible population of 3.95 crores in the state by the end of March 2022, asserted Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday. While a total of 3.4 crore people have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination, 2.39 crore people have received both their vaccination doses, informed the chief minister.

CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was speaking at the state assembly in Amaravati on Thursday, further asserted that the state government aims to vaccinate the entire targeted population with the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of December 2021. "Unfortunately, vaccinations are not in our hands. We can only administer as many doses as the central government provides. Still, we could so far inoculate 87 per cent of the population," he added. 

Speaking on COVID-19 management in the state, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said that the state has tackled the situation effectively and has conducted more than 3.02 crore tests. Apart from that, the state has made rapid development in infrastructure and facilities for controlling the pandemic by setting up 19 labs functioning round-the-clock, he informed. 

State government spent a total of Rs 3,648 crore to control pandemic: CM Reddy

Speaking on the efforts made by the state government for tackling the pandemic situation, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy informed that the state government has spent Rs 3,648.11 crore on COVID-19 care out of which Rs 1,215 was granted by the union government. 

Along with that, Rs 4,000 crore has been spent in the last 29 months on Aarogya Sri covering several costly health procedures including heart transplantation, stem cell transplantation, bone marrow transplantation, and bi-cochlear implant. Furthermore, the state has also set up 10,032 village clinics and 560 urban health clinics across the state followed by 1,325 primary health centres, 52 area hospitals, and 191 community health centres.

Apart from the infrastructure development, the state government has also made a huge investment in the recruitment of doctors and paramedical staff and is currently encouraging the setting up of super speciality hospitals in all the district headquarters, the Chief Minister said. 

(With inputs from PTI)

(Image: PTI/Facebook/@YSJagan)