Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has instructed officials to roll the Covid-19 vaccination on the lines of the polio drive and instructed DMs to monitor it daily.

During the review meeting with health officials for free vaccination in the state Mr Kumar said those who are vulnerable including health workers, frontline workers, the age groups of concern, public representatives, government servants , contract workers, shop keepers and traders will get the vaccine on priority.

He also asked health officials to deploy available human resources for vaccination in such a way that other health services are not affected.

Meanwhile, in the state, over 2,39,000 patients have so far recovered from Covid-19 and the number of active cases is continuously declining. Currently, 5053 patients are receiving treatment at various hospitals.

In all, 581 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours, while 535 new COVID-19 cases were reported and recovery rate has also improved to 97.40 per cent in Bihar.

Bihar government has also decided to open schools and coaching centres for class 9 upwards from January 4 with Covid-19 safety protocols. This decision was taken by the crisis management group of the state government. Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary Education said if all goes well, lower classes will resume later in a phased manner.

Mr Kumar said private schools and coaching centres will be responsible for sanitising their premises and implementing Covid-19 guidelines. The same will be applicable for coaching institutions. Schools will have to follow SOPs laid by union ministry for home affairs.

Two face masks will be given to each student of government schools free of cost. All educational institutions in Bihar including private and government schools and coaching institutes have been shut since March 15 as part of the nationwide lockdown triggered by Covid-19.