The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is organising a special vaccination drive on June 23 and 24 for those who missed their second dose of Covaxin.
A total of 62,050 Covaxin doses reserved for this initiative would be sent to all GCC vaccination centres. Those who did not get their second dose within the window of four to six weeks could visit the centres to get vaccinated.
GCC Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the civic body had already launched a drive to track and inoculate those who were due for their second dose of vaccination or had not taken it within the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-advised window.
Of the roughly 89,500 people who were identified as having missed their second dose, a total of 30,480 have already been tracked and vaccinated. More than 80% of those who missed their second dose had taken Covaxin. Officials said inadequate supply of Covaxin was the primary reason for many people missing their second dose.
Vishu Mahajan, Deputy Commissioner (Revenue and Finance), GCC, who is taking care of the vaccination drive, said the civic body used two strategies to track those who missed their second dose.
“After taking the data from the Co-WIN portal, we passed on the details of those who missed their second dose to our decentralised zonal-level telecounselling centres and the respective Urban Primary Health Centres. Those from the telecounselling centres called everyone individually and followed up with them for the second dose,” he said.
“On the other hand, our door-to-door fever survey workers collected vaccination data from households. They also tracked people who missed their second dose and guided them to nearby vaccination centres,” he added.
He said through these strategies, the GCC was able to identify and vaccinate 30,480 people who missed their second dose. While roughly another 59,000 people were yet to take their second dose, he said it was possible that a considerable percentage of them could have taken their second dose but the same was not reflected on the Co-WIN portal.
“For instance, if a different phone number was entered in the portal during the second dose, it gets registered as the first dose and not as the second dose. While tracking people, we are finding many cases due to such issues,” he said.
The list of vaccination centres in the city can be accessed here: http://covid19.chennaicorporation.gov.in/covid/vac- cine_centers