ETALA PLANS COUNSELLING ON VACCINE FEARS
The Telangana government is planning to set up a counselling mechanism to encourage health workers to receive Covid19 jab after several of them tried to pull themselves out of the vaccination drive.
“Some people are worried about taking vaccine shots because of fears arising from unreliable and unscientific claims being circulated about the safety of vaccines, and the government will take steps to address this issue,” state health minister Etala Rajendar said.
“Today, 25 to 30 per cent of the health workers in the state have not been vaccinated,” he said, adding that it was to boost confidence to everyone that he had volunteered to be the first in the state to receive the vaccine.
Though the Covid-19 vaccine is an mRNA based one “and it behaves differently in different countries and environments, like all vaccines, the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines have been rigorously tested for safety before being authorised for use,” the minister said.
While the mRNA technology is new, the minister claimed it was not unknown and has been well studied. “If anybody has doubts, they can consult their doctors, experts before taking the vaccine,” he said.
The minister’s comments came during his virtual address on Covid-19 vaccines at an online event organised by the Telangana State Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Trade.
The Telangana government, the minister said, is committed to making the vaccine available to everybody. But, it is the Union government which is in full control of the matter.
“We requested recently to the Union health minister to allow us to get more doses of the vaccine developed in Hyderabad to be given to more people. We are looking for the permission of the Union health ministry,” Rajendar said.
● THE MINISTER’S comments came during his virtual address on Covid19 vaccines at an online event organised by the Telangana State Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Trade. The Telangana government, the minister said, is committed to making the vaccine available to everybody.