Shillong, July 13: Meghalaya has picked up pace in fight against Covid-19 pandemic and its capital, Shillong has more reasons to smile as approximately 70 per cent of people in the city have received atleast one dose of vaccine. This was informed by officials during the meeting of leaders of different faiths convened by the Chief Secretary MS Rao on Monday at the main secretariat here.

East Khasi Hills and two other districts – West Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills – have done exceptionally well when it comes to the vaccination coverage.

Meghalaya has so far administered 8,23,983 doses of vaccine, of which 7,23,506 constitute first dose and 1,00,477 have been administered two doses.

According to health officials, about 20 lakh people in the state are 18 years and above. It is currently vaccinating at an average of 10,000 people daily. The pace of vaccination picked up since June 11.

Covid19India.org estimates Meghalaya’s population to be around 32.24 lakh based on National Commission on Population report of 2019.

According to the website, Meghalaya’s positivity rate has dropped to 9.8 per cent for the week July 5 – 11, from over 10 per cent in earlier weeks. The state has recovery rate of 90.8 per cent and fatality rate of 1.7 per cent.