By PTI
SURAT: The civic body in Gujarat’s Surat city has barred people who have not taken the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine from entering public spaces such as gardens, zoos and boarding city buses, an official said on Saturday.
At least 6.68 lakh people in the city have not taken the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine shots despite crossing their due date, Surat Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani said.
Such people will be barred from entering public gardens, parks, zoos, aquariums, science centres, etc, and using city BRTS buses, the official said, adding that the new rule will come into force on November 15 (Monday).
“We still have around 6. 68 lakh such people (who are due for second dose of vaccine), and the gap is increasing. Some people who were eligible to get the second dose are skipping inoculation. We have people who have not taken their second dose even 200-250 days after their due date despite repeated calls, messages and door-to-door campaigns,” Pani told PTI.
According to the civic body, Surat has vaccinated 106 per cent of the target population of 34.32 lakh with the first dose, while 21.20 lakh people out of 27.88 lakh have received the second jab, with the percentage of achievement standing at 76.03 per cent.
A total of 61.8 per cent of eligible beneficiaries have taken both doses and are fully vaccinated against the deadly disease, it was stated.
Gujarat on Saturday reported 37 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of infections in the state to 8,26,924, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,090, a health department official said.
The recovery count increased by 31 to 8,16,608, leaving the state with 226 active patients, he said.
“Ahmedabad district reported 10 new cases, followed by Surat with eight, Vadodara six, Navsari and Valsad four cases each, and Banaskantha, Gir Somnath, Mehsana, Panchmahal and Tapi with one case each,” the official added.
An official release said 4.26 lakh people were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Saturday, raising the total of doses administered so far in the state to 7.41 crore.
There were no active cases in adjoining Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu where the caseload stood at 10,654 of which 10,650 have recovered and four died.
Gujarat’s COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 8,26,924, new cases 37, death toll 10,090 (no change), discharged 8,16,608, active cases 226, people tested so far – figures not released.
