Shedding inhibitions, senior citizens and people aged over 45 years with comorbidities turned up in good numbers at the COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) set up in south coastal Andhra Pradesh to get inoculated on Thursday.

As many as 3,072 people were inoculated in Prakasam and Nellore districts on Thursday.

“The response from the people is quite encouraging. There has been no major adverse reaction from those who have been vaccinated. We expect more people in the targeted age group to follow the suit in the coming days as the vaccine is provided free of cost at government hospitals,” District Medical and Health Officer S. Rajyalakshmi said while overseeing the inoculation exercise at the 50 session sites.

As many as 1,772 persons, including 217 persons above the age of 45 years with comorbidities and 706 senior citizens were administered COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, she said, adding that the Health Department was fully geared up to meet the rush.

The people in the targeted age group can walk in to the vaccination centres and register their names on the spot. So far, 22,752 healthcare workers and 22,345 frontline workers have been been administered the vaccine in the district. All the 4,727 registered police personnel have also been inoculated.

In Prakasam district, 1,300 persons including 600 senior citizens and 200 persons with comorbidities were inoculated on Thursday, said DM&HO P. Ratnavalli, adding that the vaccination drive was going on at 38 government and 33 private hospitals.

People interested in taking the jab can get in touch with the Digital Assistants at the respective village secretariats and book their slots. “We have planned to cover more than 4 lakh senior citizens,” she added.

High recovery count

The DM&HO said the situation was now under control. “Only six new infections were reported in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases in Nellore district now stands at 71 as 61,919 of the 62,497 infected people have recovered so far.

Meanwhile, only three new cases were reported in Prakasam t during the period. The active cases in the district stood at only 39, while the recovery rate was put at 99%.