Around 50% of Goa’s 60+ age group yet to take their first jab

PANAJI: Even as vaccination is picking up as a consequence of the deadly second wave, officials are scratching their heads over senior citizens — the age group most vulnerable to Covid-19 — still reluctant to get the jab.
Among all states, Goa has one of the highest proportion of senior citizens in India, and only around 50% have been vaccinated, said district immunisation officer Dr Rajendra Borkar. Around 11.2% of Goa’s population is over 60 years old, second only to Kerala.
“A large number of senior citizens are still evading vaccination, either because they believe misinformation or have some misconceptions,” said a senior government doctor. “Even after seeing the most lethal side of the pandemic last month, many of them still don’t want to get vaccinated.”
Official government data recently released showed that of the 1,798 persons who died over a 42-day period at the peak of the second wave, 99.6% hadn’t taken a single dose of the vaccine, and 90% had received only one dose. However, even this evidence of real-world effectiveness hasn’t poked a hole into senior citizens’ reluctance.
Suman Naik, 65, from Mandrem is yet to get her first shot. She said she was waiting for curfew restrictions to be lifted, even after being told that nobody would stop her from visiting a vaccination centre.
While Naik will eventually take the vaccine, others, like Kamakshi Porob, 70, won’t. She has decided not to get it because she fears the vaccine will make her ill. “My mother is very scared about the vaccine, and I can’t force her to take it. In fact, she has been more frightened after I fell ill for three days after I got the shot,” said her son Akash.
The health officer said that there ought to be continued awareness to dispel the myths and misconceptions that senior citizens may have about the vaccine. “However, not enough is being done on this front. The first few days of Tika Utsav or vaccination drive receive a good response, but after that, everything slows down,” he said.
Borkar, a district immunisation officer, said that hesitancy about the vaccine is more evident in the rural population. “We are receiving good response from senior citizens in urban areas,” Borkar said.
Asked what will be done to convince senior citizens who have refrained so far from getting vaccinated, he said perhaps they would have to go door-to-door. However, it would be of much help if elected representatives take a lead and find out the names of people in their respective areas who are yet to get vaccinated, and persuade them to get inoculated.
Paying a home visit to give a vaccine shot, he said, is not a practical solution considering the vaccine wastage involved. A beneficiary needs to be monitored for half an hour after being given the shot. It can be effectively done at a designated site, he said.