Vaccine coverage hovers at 60%, Palamu dist tops
According to officials, beneficiaries may be on wait-and-watch mode triggered by doubt and fears over vaccine effectiveness
RANCHI: Jharkhand is witnessing slow progress in its mass Covid-19 vaccination drive, as only 60% of the targeted frontline health care workers have so far been administered shots till date, officials said on Thursday.
Officials, however, claimed the figure was nearing the national average, which is around 65%.
The country’s biggest Covid-19 inoculation drive took off from January 16. Jharkhand has so far carried out the drive for four days since January 16. As many as 11,641 persons have been administered shots of Covishield, the anti-coronavirus vaccine, till date against the set target of 19,437 people. The total coverage so far is around 60%. According to department officials, doubt and fear could be one of the reasons behind some people not turning up at vaccination centres.
State nodal officer (vaccination) Dr Ajit Prasad said, “This is just the beginning of the drive. So, some people might be on wait and watch mode. However, exact reason could be known only after the assessment.”
He said, “We hope the number of people taking vaccine shots will increase now onwards, as the Government of India has permitted to give shot to another registered person if the selected person for the day doesn’t turn up for the vaccine.”
As per the current schedule, at least 100 persons are to be given vaccine shots at each centre every day. When a person gets selected for vaccination for a particular day, he or she gets an SMS regarding date and time of vaccination. In case, the persons doesn’t turn up, another registered person could be given the shot instead, as per the new rule, officials said.
A senior official at National Health Mission (NHM), Jharkhand, who requested not to be quoted, said, “There are two possible reasons for all beneficiaries not turning up at the centres. Firstly, the date and time being given might not be suitable to the beneficiary. Doubt and fear could be the second reason. We are carrying out an assessment in this regard. Those who are opting not to take shots will be motivated.”
According to district-wise figure provided by the health department, Palamu is ruling the chart with 76% vaccination achievement. As many as 622 persons have been vaccinated in four days of the drive against the target of 821. Bokaro is on the second position with 74% achievement, while Giridih is on third with 71%.
Pakur is the worst performer so far with a mere 41% achievement, while Sahebgunj is the second worst performer with 48% achievement. Jharkhand has set target to vaccinate a total of 1.31 lakh frontline health care workers in the first phase.
Over two lakh frontline workers, including police personnel, armed forces, home guards, jail workers and disaster management coordinators, would be administered vaccine shots in the second phase of the drive, while 62.97 lakh people above 50 years of age would be administered shots in the third phase.
The state on Wednesday received its second consignment of 1.72 lakh doses from Punebased Serum Institute of India.