North eastern states falling behind in vaccinating 18-plus group

The northeastern states are lagging behind in the 18-44 age group vaccination, which crossed the one crore-mark in India under Phase-3 of the drive.

Even as Assam administered over four lakh doses in the category, none of the other six NE states could cross even the one lakh figure since May 1.

Among the NE states, the highest 4,33,615 doses for 18+ beneficiaries have been administered in Assam. The numbers however, may depict a wrong picture, as there is an estimated Population of 1.8 crore in the state between 18-44 years.

Except for Tripura, which managed to cross the 50,000 mark (53,957 doses), the rest of the states are far behind in inoculating the young people. Arunachal Pradesh has vaccinated the 18-44 population with 17,777 doses. While Manipur could administer only 9,110 doses for the 18-44 group, Meghalaya is marginally ahead with 23,142 inoculations. The corresponding figures for Mizoram and Nagaland are 10,676 and 7,376 respectively.