Fear of the shot leads to poor turnout in Chamarajanagar, Hubballi

MYSURU/ HUBBALLI: A certain amount of vaccine hesitancy, combined with technical glitches, has led to poor turnout for the Covid immunisation programme in Chamarajanagar and Hubballi. On Wednesday (Day 5), the state met 55% of its target of vaccinating 62,772 people. Since the launch of the Covid immunisation on January 16, several parts of the state have had trouble accessing the CoWIN app, and some centres reported that many beneficiaries did not receive the message about time and venue.

In Chamarajanagar district health workers at Chamarajanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) told TNIE, on condition of anonymity, that poor turnout was mainly due to hesitancy and a lack of choice in deciding which vaccine to take. CIMS is one of six sites where the state government distributed Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, which has been mired in controversy as Stage 3 trials are ongoing. 

Sources at CIMS said the poor response was mainly because many people are afraid to take Covaxin, despite there being no reports of side-effects. Chamarajanagar district saw 349 people get the shot, against 656 at 10 sites where Covishield was given. In Mysuru district, 2,848 people were vaccinated on Wednesday. However, authorities brought down the target from 4,000 to 3,891 on Wednesday. The number vaccinated on Wednesday includes people who missed their scheduled shot and walked in to take the jab. This was not allowed in the first four days of the vaccine drive.

Staff at KIMS wary of vax

Meanwhile, the turnout was marginal at KIMS Hubballi, where in four days, just 12% of staff got vaccinated. Dharwad district, as a whole, achieved 58% of its total target of 7,979 in four days of vaccination. KIMS Hubballi has 2,500 staff, including medical staff, technicians, Group D employees, students, and faculty. Dharwad district saw over 22,000 Covid cases, most of which were treated at KIMS. Over 60 staffers contracted Covid and recovered.

“Only 301 staffers of 2,500 got vaccinated. Others are hesitating. Before the vaccine was supplied, hospital authorities had held an orientation programme, but staff are not showing interest,” a KIMS official said. Many people have raised concerns about vaccine data. “There is a need for long-term study about the efficiency and other aspects of the vaccine. Producers are claiming only 50- 80% efficiency and the deaths in Ballari and Shivamogga is leading to hesitancy.

The number of fresh cases has come down, is also a cause for the poor response,” the official added. Arunkumar C, Medical Superintendent of KIMS, said beneficiaries can decide whether or not to take the vaccine. “We are creating awareness through our social media groups. Doctors who were administered the vaccine claimed they have not suffered any reactions,” he said.