After a weekend of lukewarm response to the much awaited COVID-19 vaccine, the number of recipients of the vaccine has slowly picked up on Monday and Tuesday.
By forenoon on Tuesday, 84 persons were vaccinated at the government hospital here. On Saturday, 61 persons took the vaccine shot and on Sunday 50. Monday saw 128 persons vaccinated.
On Monday, as a confidence building measure, the lead officials of the Health Department took the vaccine shot. Deputy Director of Health V. Govindan told The Hindu some of the top health officials including the Dean of Krishnagiri medical college hospital, district training medical officer, district epidemiologist and secretary of the Indian Medical Association took the vaccine.
“At first, there was Pongal holidays and most health workers had gone home for the holidays. They slowly returned and the number of those turning up for vaccination is going up steadily,” he said.
He was hopeful that all those registered would be vaccinated soon. “The registered recipients include village health nurses, community health nurses, dengue and communicable disease control workers, ambulance drivers and security personnel. Most of the staff nurses have other regular duties including weekly immunisations and health camps. They will have to make time and come for the vaccination and that process will take time,” Dr. Govindan said.
The district received 11,500 doses of Covishield to vaccinate 10,400 intended recipients during Phase I of the vaccination programme. This accounted for a wastage factor of 1.1%, he said.
The first dose would followed by a second dose after a cooking period of 28 days. Two weeks from the second dose, the recipient would develop immunity. “Until such time, the recipients should continue to follow all safety precautions,” Dr. Govindan said.
While only those who had registered for the vaccination through the CO-WIN site were being vaccinated, exception was also being made for those who could not register for various reasons, including travel abroad and unavailability, the Deputy Director of Health said.
At first, there were seven centres designated for vaccination in the district. However, the number was scaled down to three - one each in Krishnagiri government headquarters hospital, Hosur government hospital and upgraded primary health centre in Kaveripattinam. The reason was due to digital tracking of vaccine receivers, limited facility in all centres and also the limited number of vaccines, he said.
“The entire vaccination process is digitally tracked including sending of text alerts to intended recipients. So, the number of centres was limited to facilitate the tracking,” he added.
“Covishield is completely safe and we urge health workers to take the vaccine to protect themselves and the others,” said Dr. Govindan.