Immunisation drive in Jalandhar fails to achieve target on Day 1

MR VACCINATION Campaign marred by fake messages, videos warning it may have longlasting effects on kids’ health

JALANDHAR: The measles-rubella (MR) vaccination campaign that began amid much hype by the state government failed to achieve its target in the Doaba region on its first day. Courtesy: The fake viral messages and videos on social media sites, which had been stating that the injection could result in children being impotent later in their lives or damage their brain cells.

The campaign to administer MR injection, which is similar to the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine, is a project of the World Health Organisation (WHO) which aims at eradicating this deadly disease among children from the age group of nine months to 15 years.

The drive started on Tuesday and will continue till May 25. It will cover all children, including those of government and private schools, anganwadi centres and outreach centres.

As per the data from the Jalandhar health authorities, 450 vaccinators deployed to immunise children failed to reach even 50% mark of the target on the first day, as only 16,223 children were immunised on Tuesday against the target of 40,000.

The situation was similar in Nawanshahr as only 7,268 kids were administered the vaccine against the target of 30,000.

As many as 18,857 children were immunised in Hoshiarpur and 6,024 in Kapurthala district,

against the health department’s set target of 17,000.

Meanwhile, the campaign was not organised on Wednesday due to ‘Mamta Divas’, a similar immunisation day observed every week at all government hospitals dispensaries.

Campaign’s nodal officer Dr Preet Kawal Singh said the rumours about the injection which went viral on social media affected the campaign on the first day as parents of children, especially those studying in private schools, did not consent to vaccination. Dr Kawal said, “Following the rumours, many private schools also denied administering the injection to their students. But only after we made them aware of zero side effects of the aforesaid immunisation, they approached us.”

“We hope that on Thursday, we will get a better response from parents and private schools,” he added.

He also said this injection was similar to the MMR vaccination, which parents used to purchase at higher rates from private hospitals and only ‘mumps’ component from the injection was removed.

Nawanshahr’s district immunisation officer Dr Davinder Dhanda said many as 16 private schools in Nawanshahr denied permission for the vaccination.

“At one of the schools, parents even staged a protest against this drive,” Dr Davinder added.

Meanwhile, an awareness committee has been formed to counter the propaganda by DC Varinder Kumar Sharma with officials from health and education departments to create awareness among people about the misleading campaign against MR vaccination. Sharma has also appealed the people to be aware of the false facts and ensure that their wards get immunised by the health officials.