Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said that the hill state became the first in the country to administer the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to 100 percent of its adult population but the task was not easy.
“Over 74 lakh doses have been administered to the people including the first and second dose so far. The task of achieving cent percent vaccination was not easy keeping in view the topography of the state. Lahaul and Spiti was the first district in the State achieving 100 percent first dose at vaccination followed by Kinnaur,” the Chief Minister said while addressing a video conference organized here at Civil Hospital, Palampur.
He said that the State Government made special arrangements for vaccination at Bara Bhangal by sending chopper. Malana is another difficult terrain, where special arrangements were made. He thanked the Corona warriors for rendering yeoman services during this critical period.
The Chief Minister also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Government for extending all possible help to the state in the fight against Corona.
Thakur said that today, there are only 1,500 active cases in Himachal as the State Government has been working 24X7 to overcome the threat of Corona.
Earlier, the state had only 11 dedicated Corona health centres with 440 beds and 32 ICU facilities. Today, the State has 80 such centres with 8,765 beds having 880 ICU beds, which can be enhanced up to 11,000 if required, he said.
The Chief Minister on Monday dedicated the newly installed PSA oxygen plant at Civil Hospital, Palampur under PM Care Fund which would support 100 beds. This plant has been built at a cost of Rs 2 crore. He also dedicated the augmented PSA Oxygen plant at Zonal Hospital, Dharamshala, built at a cost of Rs. 1.5 crore through video conference. This oxygen plant already functioning at Zonal Hospital, Dharamshala since March this year with a capacity of 300 LPM has been upgraded to 800 LPM recently under CSR. It would support the 175 oxygen supported indoor block of the Zonal Hospital.
Taking a dig at the opposition, Thakur said that it believed in criticism only as it had been forgetting the state of the health sector during its various regimes extending over 50 years. There were only two oxygen plants in the state at IGMC, Shimla and Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda. But, today Himachal has raised its guard against this deadly virus and has over 2,200 oxygen concentrators at various health institutions in the state, he added.