NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: The absence of medical students in Noida, many of whom are pursuing online classes from home, has been cited by the district administration as the main reason for the low turnout in the
vaccination drive.
In
Ghaziabad, authorities have found that most
ANM workers listed for getting the shot on Friday gave it a miss because of apprehension regarding possible side-effects of the vaccine. Officials are now planning to organise counseling sessions to allay fears regarding the vaccine.
Officials handling administrative work in private medical colleges of Noida blamed the lack of coordination with the health department for the poor show. This, they said, was apart from the general anxiety and apprehension among healthcare workers regarding the vaccine. The district recorded less than 50% turnout on Friday.
“We are trying to find out how we can plug the holes and ensure a better turnout in the next round. The reason behind the low turnout is being ascertained and overall feedback is being gathered from the vaccination centres,” said Suhas LY, the Noida district magistrate.
Sources in the health department said that among 4,200 people who were to be administered vaccine doses on Friday, 600 were medical students enrolled in courses such as MBBS, BDS, homeopathy, pharmacy and nursing, in private institutes of the city.
“Among them, only 66 took the vaccine. The college administrations told us that most of the students were attending classes from their hometowns and so could not make it to the city,” said a health department official. College officials said the government should have informed them in advance about the list of students who were to be given the shots. “We were given a notice of less than 24 hours to call the students. It was not possible to ensure proper attendance. We needed more time to inform the students. The list of students had been provided to the health department last month and a better coordination could have yielded better results,” said an official of a college in
Greater Noida.
The district magistrate said all these aspects were being examined and a strategy was being worked out to improve the scenario. The next vaccination drive in Noida is scheduled for January 28.
Ghaziabad, too, saw the turnout come down from 95% to 81% on Friday. It was, however, better than the state average of 65%. An analysis of numbers at the 31 vaccine centres in has revealed that there were a few places where the turnout was below 30%. For instance, only 26 of 100 listed recipients turned up for the vaccine at Vijay Nagar.
“Apart from this, Manav Hospital in Kavi Nagar saw a turnout of only 46%; Santosh Hospital registered 55%; Ganesh Hospital in Nehru Nagar saw 56% and Arogya Hospital 57%. We will have to draw up a fresh strategy in these places,” said
NK Gupta, the chief medical officer.
The health department has also found that most of the ANM workers did not turn up to take the shots. “More than 700 did not turn up for the vaccine. We got in touch with some of them and realised that misinformation about the vaccine being circulated on social media was the main reason behind their apprehension,” Gupta said. “Another reason for the low turnout in some centres is the gap in managing so many beneficiaries. On Friday, there were 4,000 beneficiaries, compared to just 400 on January 16,” he added.