Even as Mysuru stands second in the State in terms of vaccination coverage among senior citizens after Bengaluru, the first dose of vaccination for the healthcare workers is still not over yet though the drive took off nearly two months ago.

The coverage is inching closer to 100 per cent as 93.8 percent target had been achieved as on Wednesday with 25,362 healthcare workers (HCWs) out of 27,032 having taken the first dose of the jab.

Sources in the Health Department said the first dose would be completed in the next few days, achieving cent per cent target. The vaccination for HCWs was launched on January 16. Contrary to what the health authorities had claimed after the roll-out, the first dose has taken some time to get over in view of some apprehensions which, the sources claim, had been addressed successfully, encouraging the unvaccinated HCWs to turn up at the vaccination centres in their respective areas.

The second dose of vaccination for the HCWs has achieved 53.6 per cent target. Out of 25,362 beneficiaries, 13,605 had been vaccinated until Wednesday.

Despite the heads of the various departments taking the lead in encouraging their staff to take the jab by vaccinating themselves, the coverage for the frontline workers (FLWs) has just crossed the 50 percent target.

The lowest coverage has been in the Revenue Department where only 826 out of 2,225 registered came forward and took the first dose as on Wednesday. Only 3 beneficiaries from the department turned up to take the vaccine on Wednesday.

Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri, after taking the first dose of jab, had called upon her department staff not to hesitate to take the shot, saying that the vaccine was absolutely safe. Despite her call, only 37.1 per cent of the target in the department had been achieved until Wednesday.

The highest vaccination coverage among the frontline workers had been achieved in MOHA (Police department), which registered 61.2 per cent target – 4,885 beneficiaries out of 7,978 registered beneficiaries had been inoculated as on Wednesday. Only four registered beneficiaries from the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj turned up.

A total of 8,842 frontline workers have taken the vaccine out of 17,470, registering 50.6 per cent target, until Wednesday.

The response from individuals aged above 60 years is overwhelming in Mysuru district. On Wednesday, 963 turned up across the district for the jab. Nearly 113 individuals aged between 45 and 59 with co-morbidities had been vaccinated as on Wednesday.

As per the State vaccination coverage data, 1,989 people above 60 years of age had received the first dose in Mysuru district. This is the second highest after Bengaluru where 6,778 got it.