Gujarat govt extends COVID vaccination deadline for owners, operators, staff till Aug 15

Amid the severe shortage of COVID vaccines, the Gujarat government has once again extended the deadline for compulsory COVID-19 vaccination of managers, business owners, staff, and people working in commercial places by 15 more days. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday. 

Earlier, the Gujarat government had announced June 30 as the last date for 18 big cities of the state and July 10 for other small areas as the last day of vaccination. Notably, 50% of the state's population has taken the first dose of vaccine and the rest still awaits COVID jabs.

CM Rupani took to Twitter to announce the COVID-19 vaccine extension date.

Vaccinated population in Gujarat

Out of the 4.93 crore eligible population, Gujarat has inoculated 15.7% of people with both the jabs of the anti-COVID vaccine. The state has administered 2.49 crore first doses till now, while 77,57,619 doses were administered as the second dose. Those who received the first dose included 19.66 lakh frontline and healthcare workers, whereas 1.71 crore people belonged to the age group of 45 or more and 1.08 crore were people belonging to the 18-44 age group.

COVID situation in Gujarat

COVID cases in the state are on the decline. In the last 24 hours, the state reported only 27 new cases, which tallied to 8,24,877 total COVID cases so far. It is to be noted that the state did not report even a single death case in the last 24 hours. So far, 10,076 people have died due to COVID in the state.

COVID situation in neighbouring states

COVID cases in the neighbouring state of Gujarat are also low, as Rajasthan alone reported 17 new cases in the last 24 hours, followed by one death. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh added 22 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours with zero deaths. India reported 41, 943 new cases in the last 24 hours, followed by 542 fatalities. The latest data by Health Ministry has informed that so far 4.15 crore COVID doses have been administered across the country.

IMAGE: PTI/PIXABAY

(With ANI Inputs)