Men account for 61% of inoculations
GURUGRAM: As many as 61.5% of the residents who have been vaccinated so far are men, while women account for only 38% of the total in Gurugram, an analysis of data available on the Co-WIN platform revealed. Experts say that while the existing gender disparity plays a role here, setting up vaccination services near residence will help in reducing the gender gap in vaccination.
As per the data, of 1,056, 946 people who have been vaccinated with at least one dose in the district till now, 650, 749 are men, while 406,197 are women.
At the state level too, 3,801,804 men have been vaccinated while 3,056, 294 women have received their first dose of Covid-19 shot.
The trend was also observed in neighbouring Delhi, where 3,004,947 men and 2,173,101 women have been vaccinated, as per the Co-WIN data.
The Co-WIN app, however, did not display data regarding transgender persons in the district.
Going by the 2011 census for Gurugram, out of the 1.5 million population, about 800,000 are men while 700,000 are women, with the sex ratio of 854 females to 1,000 males, reflecting the existing gender gap in the population.
The chief medical officer for Gurugram, Dr Virender Yadav, said that the health department has been holding vaccinations at all health centres to facilitate people in getting vaccinated.
“Many women residents in rural and semi-urban areas cannot move out easily due to responsibilities or sometimes, they are hesitant to go out on their own. They need the male member of the family to assist them. These factors restrict the (lower) footfall of women,” said Yadav.
Vaccination started in the district on January 16, with the inoculation of healthcare workers, followed by front-line workers.
The coverage gradually opened for people above 60 years, followed by those above 45 years and then for people in the 18-45 age bracket. The pace of vaccination has picked up in June, with almost 400,000 vaccine doses administered in the last 23 days.
On Wednesday, about 12, 419 doses were administered, out of which 7,494 were administered at government health centres while 4,925 were administered at private hospitals in the district.
Of the total doses, about 9,437 inoculations were of people in the 18-45 age group, followed by coverage of 2,849 people aged above 45 years. At
least 59 healthcare workers and 83 front-line workers and their family members also took the vaccine shot.
Senior epidemiologist Dr Rajesh Kumar, the former head of community medicine department and school of public health, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research in Chandigarh, said, “Near-to-home vaccination services started in a few states to cover elderly and persons with disability will help those women who are not able to move out easily due to household chores or restrictions on the movement. It is still a challenge for many women to stand
in a queue for hours to take the vaccine shot. In many cases,
families prefer getting male vaccinated instead of women. The existing gender gap also casts its impact on the overall vaccination number.”