Kolkata leads in administering both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, UP districts among the bottom pile
Among all the districts in the country, Kolkata ranks first in administering both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine to residents above the age of 18, shows data from the Union Health Ministry. Till last Wednesday evening, 76.1 per cent of the residents in the age group had been vaccinated.
Considering the states, Bengal is at an admirable position of number four.
The Bengal government is among those states which took an early initiative in inoculating its citizens. The result is reflected in these rankings.
Now the state government is giving stress in vaccinating the people in the rural regions, where there has been a lag because of the uneven supply of the vaccines. The head of the COVID-19 advisory group to the Union government, Dr VK Paul too recently asked states to make special efforts in vaccinating their rural populations.
Among the top districts which have completed vaccinating its citizens above age 18 with both the doses, after Kolkata, are Diu (72 per cent), Leh (71.1 per cent), Gurugram (64.3 per cent) and Papum Pare in Arunachal Pradesh (59 per cent).
Interestingly, at the bottom of the pile are districts in states which take pride in the so-called ‘double engine government’, a term coined by the prime minister to describe states which also have BJP governments, which are supposed to be better governed as a result.
The district of Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh is at the bottom, where only 2.97 per cent of the people above 18 years of age have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Above it are Badaun (4.35 per cent) and Kannauj (4.57 per cent), both also in Uttar Pradesh. Next, that is, fourth from the bottom is another district in a ‘double-engine government’—Chaitakoot in Madhya Pradesh, which, till Wednesday, had only 4.75 per cent of its population vaccinated with both the doses.
