Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Wednesday said the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive in the state for people aged 18 years and above is restricted to a few districts due to non-availability of adequate doses.
The government had started vaccinating people in the 18-44 age group from May 1.
“There are about 3.25 crore people in the age group of 18 to 44 years in the state. In such a situation, the state needs around seven crore doses, including both the dosage and wastage. Vaccination has to be restricted to a few districts due to inadequate doses,” Sharma said.
“Immunisation work will be carried out extensively in the entire state as soon as sufficient doses are received from the centre,” he added.
The ongoing lockdown in the state to combat coronavirus and strict adherence to COVID protocols by people has resulted in a slight decline in the number of new cases reported in the last two days, Sharma said.
On May 2, the state reported 18,298 fresh cases while the figure decreased to 17,296 cases on May 3 and 16,974 on May 4.
He said it would be very easy to break the chain of infection if common people do not come out of their homes unnecessarily.
He said although the number of infected people is increasing, but it is a matter of relief that every day 12-15 thousand people are going home after recovering from the disease.
The death rate is also 0.7 to 1 per cent which is much lower than other states, Sharma said, adding that the daily deaths due to the infection are worrisome but can be prevented if everyone exercises self-discipline.
