If lack of awareness among parents has hit the MR vaccination campaign, messages spreading a scare on social media is another big headache for the Health Department officials.
This included advisories asking not to vaccinate children as the new vaccine is banned in the West, and messages raising apprehensions about the quality of syringes used.
For instance, a WhatsApp message which went viral in Mangaluru says the campaign is intended to create impotency. Another message said that the vaccine is a slow poison and is being imposed on children by the Narendra Modi government to help a multinational company.
Allaying fears, Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Shalini Rajneesh said: “All syringes for vaccination in government sector are auto-disabled. Once injected, it cannot be drawn or used again.”
Pointing out that auxiliary nurse midwives and staff nurses in government sectors are well-trained in giving sub-cutaneous injections with this needle, she said: “They have been giving Measles injection safely through the same route on the same site and with the same kind of needle for last 30 years now. The same will be used during the campaign too.”
Asish Kumar Satapathy, WHO regional team leader for South India, explained that the 26 needle gauge size is used for intradermal vaccinations like BCG and IPV. “In case of measles, the government is supplying syringes in the 23 to 25 gauge range, and the same are being used,” he said.
