Response overwhelming, says health min
Maharashtra health minister on Saturday informed that Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign has been started across the state by state health department and so far as many as 1.8 crore children have been vaccinated in the past 10 days. So far, 35 per cent of vaccination has been completed.
Bhandara district is leading the state by completing vaccination of 60 per cent of the district. This vaccine is completely safe and parents should vaccinate their infants.
The Health Minister said that Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign has been getting good response due to better coordination and widespread awareness among health, school education and women's child development department, Dr Sawant added.
The health minister said that so far, 16.27 lakh children between 9 months and 5 years of age have been immunised in the campaign. More than 41 to 55,000 in the age group of 5 to 10 years and 51.6 lakh boys and girls of 10 to 15 years of age have been immunised. More than 35 per cent of the expected beneficiaries of the total state have been completed within 10 days of the campaign commencement. By December 31, 2018, the goal is set to achieve 100 per cent of Measles-Rubella vaccination.
He said that vaccination sessions have been successfully implemented in 96,000 schools of the state. So far, the following districts have performed well in this campaign. In this, Bhandara (60 per cent), Sindhudurg (57 per cent), Gadchiroli (52 per cent), Kolhapur (50 per cent) and Yavatmal (49 per cent).
The best performing corporations include Navi Mumbai (46 per cent), VasaiVirar (42 per cent), Dhule (42 percent) and Kolhapur (41 percent). All the vaccinated schools have received excellent response from the headmaster, teachers and parents in the campaign, the health minister Dr Deepak Sawant, said.
Dr Sawant said that the expected number of vaccination was completed in most large number of schools in Thane district. The flag of victory has been provided to the Municipal Corporation of Navi Mumbai, Thane Municipal Corporation and Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation for performance by the hands of the mayor and commissioner.
Through public awareness, the vaccination campaign is receiving spontaneous response from the schools across the state. This beautiful song was created by Parle Tilak Vidyalaya of Vile Parle, “Let’s make Rubella a success vaccination campaign, now we will not be afraid... Now we will not cry... We will not neglect... We will be vaccinated...” This song is being heard in all state-run schools.
The health minister said that 100 per cent of children in the Kadegaon of Sangli have been vaccinated and hopefully schools in the state where the vaccination has been denied in the absence of misconception are also getting better response.
After the vaccination at some places, the boys and girls felt the effects of a minor nature. Health department employees immediately rushed there and provide the first aid.
Some of the children were taken to a clinic and were kept under the supervision of experts, but after a few hours, they were discharged and went to home. The State Health Minister appealed to parents not to be scared of the child as it would not make any adverse effect.