The State Health Department, which had been beating all odds to deal with vaccine hesitancy after vaccination for healthcare and frontline workers was rolled out, is now gearing up to handle vaccine eagerness among senior citizens.
With over 50,000 senior citizens having taken the shot since Monday when vaccination was opened up for them and many more having registered, the Health Department is now planning to schedule appointments in advance.
Arundathi Chandrashekar, State Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM) told The Hindu on Friday that the rush at the vaccination centres is expected to stabilise from Monday when vaccination will start in PHCs, CHCs and more private hospitals. “We are planning to schedule appointments for 10-15 days in advance from Monday,” she said.
“The plan for scheduling advance appointments is to build confidence among people that they can take it at their convenience and also to avoid overcrowding at the vaccination centres,” she added.
Over 50,000 seniors vaccinated
As many as 50,368 senior citizens have been vaccinated in the State since Monday when the second phase was rolled out. That apart, 7,767 persons above 45 years with comorbidities have been vaccinated in the last five days.
On Friday, as many as 12,521 senior citizens and 2,087 above 45 years with comorbidities took the jab. Cumulatively, Bengaluru Urban recorded the highest numbers - 20,197 and 2,388 - respectively in both these categories.
So far, a total of 4,59,214 healthcare workers and 1,65,224 frontline workers have taken the first dose of vaccination. As many as 2,25,265 healthcare workers have taken the second dose.
