Five of the 100 wards in Madurai Corporation have achieved 100% vaccination against COVID-19. In the wards where people were reluctant to take the vaccine shot, the number of cases was slightly increasing, said Corporation Commissioner K. P. Karthikeyan here on Thursday.
Speaking to The Hindu , he said 50% the residents in most of the wards had taken both doses. he focus was to contain the spread locally. “We have been doing door-to-door checks in residential areas where complaints of fever and other ailments are coming in,” he said and added that reluctant people were given counselling about the importance of the vaccine.
Referring to dengue cases, Dr. Karthikeyan said that compared to last year, the situation was well under control now. Fogging operation carried out in advance areas and pumping out of stagnant rainwater had fetched results, the Commissioner said, adding they would intensify fogging in thickly-populated wards and streets.
On the one hand, people were being sensitised on the importance of keeping their surroundings dry and free of garbage. Mass cleaning of channels - big and small - had helped to keep dengue fever in check.
Oil balls were dropped in channels after the silt was removed. The Corporation had recently procured mobile fogging machines using which small stretches and bylanes coul be covered more effectively.
The Health department officials said that they were sprinkling mosquito larvicidal oils (MLO) in channels as it effectively discouraged the adult mosquitoes from laying eggs. Moreover, the oil helped in destruction of breeding in contaminated water.
Till Wednesday, 582.50 tonnes of silt had been removed from the channels and so far 9.7 km-long major channels had been cleared of encroachments, Dr Karthikeyan said and hoped to complete the cleaning of channels by this weekend.
Meanwhile, in a bid to step up COVID-19 vaccination, the Corporation plans to inoculate all citizens above 80 years and differently abled persons at their doorstep. All that a beneficiarys have to do is to register their names by dialling 84284 25000 and they would get the vaccines within a week.
