Vaccination coverage approaching 70%: L-G

‘Hesitancy is still an issue’

Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday said vaccination coverage against COVID-19 was approaching 70% of the population and 41 villages in the Union Territory had been fully vaccinated. Flagging off six digital vans to propagate the vaccination message under the auspices of the Bureau of Outreach and Communication under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as part of the year-long 75th Independence anniversary celebrations, Ms. Soundararajan said the administration had been able to vaccinate an estimated 7.5 lakh people out of a total eligible population of about 10 lakh in the Union Territory. The progress on the vaccination front was still a remarkable achievement in spite of missing the target of 100% coverage by August 15. Vaccine hesitancy and apprehensions among sections of the population were still impeding the effort. This was why though against a target of reaching at least 10,000 people every day, only around 4,000 to 5,000 could be vaccinated, she said.