A majority of people are said to be ignoring vaccination in spite of availability of sufficient doses at the Primary Health Centres and other designated places in the district.
Till a couple of months ago, people used to throng the PHCs for getting vaccinated against coronavirus. Now officials and medical staff are requesting people to have the first dose of the vaccine immediately since a third wave of the pandemic is likely in near future. However, there is little response to their pleas, thanks to the significant drop in new infections in the district. From around 500 a day in April and May, daily new infections are under 100 in the district now. On Thursday the number of new COVID-19 cases was only 29.
Collector M. Hari Jawaharlal has directed the District Medical and Health Department officials to oversee the vaccination programme on a daily basis. As many as 7,23,783 persons were administered the first dose of the vaccine and 1,73,939 the second dose. The recommended gap between two doses is four weeks for Covaxin and up to 12 weeks for Covishield. Many, for whom the second dose is due, are said to be not keen on it.
Publicity
Programme Officer for vaccination E. Gopala Krishna told The Hindu that the district administration was giving wide publicity on the availability of vaccines at all 80 designated centres. “The second dose of the vaccine is important since it would strengthen the immunity system to fight coronavirus efficiently,” he said.
“Many people think that the first dose is sufficient to get the required immunity. But the second dose is needed for human body to fight new variants of coronavirus as per the recommendations of the World Health Organisation and the Indian Council of Medical Research,” said Dr. Kurella Srinivas.