Struggling with Floods, Bihar Emerges as Star of August 31 Vaccination Record With Over 24L Doses in a Day

Bihar emerged as the unlikely star of India’s record 1.32 crore vaccination feat on August 31, delivering the maximum number of over 24 lakh doses in a single day and 90 percent of them were given in rural areas of Bihar.

Bihar lags in the country in terms of vaccination coverage with only 8% of its eligible population being fully vaccinated so far and about 40% getting the first jab so far. The state is also struggling with floods in 17 districts and the highest number of vaccinations the state had done daily so far was 9.26 lakh on August 5. On August 31, the state surprised one and all by delivering 24.23 lakh doses.

As many as six districts of the state reported over one lakh vaccinations apiece on August 31, breaking their own records. The East Champaran district reported the maximum 1.77 lakh vaccinations, followed by Patna (1.32 lakh), Samastipur (1.12 lakh), Gaya (1.10 lakh), Muzzafarpur (1.02 lakh) and Darbhanga (1.02 lakh). Nearly all these districts are affected by floods presently.

A senior central government official said the most heartening part about the record set by Bihar on August 31 was that 22.12 lakh out of the total 24.23 lakh doses were given in the rural areas of Bihar and amidst the state facing floods. “It is a yeoman jab in Bihar. It shows special vaccination campaigns work like the one Bihar ran on August 31 or ones UP and MP ran earlier,” the official said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said over 10,000 vaccination centers were run on August 31 to give the record number of doses. Kumar said Bihar had begun a ‘6 Crore Jabs in 6 Months’ campaign on June 21 under which two crore doses have been given in the state in July and August. Bihar’s record of 24.23 lakh doses in a day is shy of MP’s record of 25.09 lakh and UP’s 31.39 lakh doses.

Overall, about 3.17 crore people in Bihar have got their first dose so far while nearly 63 lakh people have got both doses. Bihar has an eligible adult population of nearly 7.4 Crore. The Covid-19 situation in Bihar remains under control with only 99 active cases presently and just 8 fresh cases reported in the state on August 31 and no fresh deaths. The state’s total death count stands at 9,653.

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