Gujarat: Over 16,000 villages, five cities achieve 100 pc coverage of first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Over 16,000 villages and five municipal corporations in Gujarat have inoculated 100 per cent of their eligible population with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, state Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in Gandhinagar, Patel said the entire eligible population in the cities of Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Surat, Junagadh and Rajkot have been administered the first jab of the vaccine.

Apart from this, residents of 16,109 out of nearly 18,500 villages have taken the first dose of the vaccine so far, he said, adding that Junagadh, Ahmedabad, Tapi and Mahisagar have also achieved 100 per cent coverage of the first dose till now.

As per the official figures, Gujarat has around 4.93 crore citizens above the age of 18, who are eligible to take the vaccine against coronavirus.

Nearly 4.50 crore people have received the first dose so far, while 2.71 crore have taken the second dose as well, the minister said.

"In all, the Gujarat government has administered over 7.20 crore doses of the vaccine since the commencement of the nationwide vaccination drive against coronavirus on January 16," Patel added.