Dimapur, Aug. 7 (EMN): The Health department has underscored the importance of Covid-19 vaccination, saying that almost all the deaths and hospitalisations in Nagaland state due to the disease were reported among the unvaccinated population.
It updated in its weekly bulletin that 99% of fatalities recorded in the state since March this year were not fully vaccinated and 90% of the deaths had not received even a single dose of the vaccine.
‘Only 12% (2041) of total cases (16,245) registered in the state since March 2021 were vaccinated with a single dose of Covid-19 vaccine, which is just 0.32% of the total vaccinated people with at least one dose,’ said the update.
“Although the main aim of vaccines is to break the link between positive cases and hospital admissions and deaths, it can also reduce transmission to a great extent,” read the update.
It was informed that the state has registered 51% first dose coverage of its citizens aged 18 years and above as on August 6, with 19,576 doses administered in the past week ending August 6, and 7,87,111 doses administered so far. As many as 60 villages in the state have achieved 100% vaccination of eligible beneficiaries.
Nagaland recorded 44% increase in new Covid cases last week ending August 6, as 732 infections were detected from 11,770 samples tested, against 597 cases registered in the week before. However, week-on-week fatalities reduced from 24 to 21 and hospital admissions decreased from 128 to 85.
“The weekly sample positivity rate has remained the same as last week (6%). Kohima, Longleng and Peren reported weekly sample positivity rate of more than 10%,” read the bulletin.
Hypertension and diabetes remain the most associated comorbidity among Covid-19 deaths in the state so far with the former accounting for 141 fatalities and the latter 165. As many as 78 victims were associated with hypertension + diabetes, chronic kidney disease- 42, coronary artery disease- 34, alcoholic liver disease- 27, tuberculosis- 23, HIV- 14, and cancer- 13, according to the Health department’s update.