PATNA: From making individual calls to beneficiaries, to the head of the institutions taking the
Covid-19 vaccine themselves, hospitals are going all out to instil confidence regarding the vaccines in the minds of the beneficiaries, who are increasingly taking the “wait-and-watch” stance until it is “safe” to the shots.
For instance, the NMCH, which has seen just 28% of the beneficiaries turn up for the jabs in three days, the second-lowest turnout in Patna district, made individual calls to all those registered for vaccination on Thursday.
“Till Wednesday morning, five doctors of our hospital have personally called 20 beneficiaries each registered for Thursday. They have got counselling, and their queries have been answered. We have given them the example of senior doctors of the city, like Dr AA Hai,
PMCH superintendent and principal who have taken the shot. Hope this will help in increasing the numbers,” hospital superintendent Dr Binod Kumar Singh said.
Dr Singh further said he requested the health department to let him and other senior faculty take the vaccination early as their name in the portal is far behind, to build confidence among other workers.
The PMCH, which has achieved 95% of the target so far, is also implementing this. “Our hospital is doing well in terms of turnout and this is because we are personally interacting with beneficiaries. We have formed teams and they are calling the beneficiaries and sending messages,” said hospital’s superintendent Dr Bimal Karak.
AIIMS-Patna, where 93% of the registered beneficiaries got vaccinated, is sorting out technical issues in the process. “We have a total of 3,542 healthcare workers registered with us. If anyone fails to turn up we others from the list so that the manpower is not wasted,” said the hospital’s nodal incharge for Covid-19 Dr Sanjeev Kumar, adding 52 people who were registered for day one turned up for vaccination and 48 others were those registered for another day.
He further said since the hospital’s director had himself taken the shot on the first day and the superintendent took during the trial, it led to confidence building among other workers in the hospital. He added, “We were the ones who had worked the most during the epidemic and there is no confusion among our healthcare workers regarding the vaccines. We are very clear that we have to take vaccines and reach herd immunity to avoid any negative consequences.”
Several doctors said the state government should take steps to gain the confidence of the people, and a mass level campaign is needed.