With several parents and many private schools apprehensive of administering the Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine to students causing a setback to the three-phased vaccination drive, Collector S.A. Raman on Tuesday stepped in to assure them that the vaccine is safe.
Convening a meeting with heads of various schools in the district to take stock of the situation, Mr. Raman told reporters that since the launch of the vaccination drive on February 6, the Health Department has covered a total of 2,19,891 children through schools till February 13 in Vellore district. This was against the targeted number of 3,63,886 children that the department aimed to cover from February 6 to 13.
“During this period, we have achieved 60% coverage during the vaccination campaign. In phase I of the three-phased campaign, we are covering government, government-aided and private schools,” he said. Children aged 9 months to 15 years are being covered in this campaign that will go on till February 28.
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Out of the total 3,263 schools in the district, 10 schools have achieved 100% coverage till now, he pointed out. “While some school heads have been pro-active in enabling the Health Department to vaccinate the students, some are not proactive and are following a practice of seeking consent letters from parents. This has caused a slowdown in the vaccination programme,” he said.
The meeting was also convened to appreciate school heads, who paved way for 100 per cent coverage of the vaccination programme. “There are some schools where the vaccination programme is going on slow. Through this meeting, we want to analyse the problems faced by them and see that 100 % coverage is achieved,” he said.
He allayed fears among parents and schools on the vaccine’s safety. “The MR vaccine is safe and has no side effects. This drive will help to prevent measles and rubella,” he observed.
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Mr. Raman urged parents not to hesitate to vaccinate their children against measles and rubella during the campaign.
On the death of a girl near Ambur, which occurred two days after the vaccine, he said the death was not due to the vaccine but that she had pneumonia, and it was most likely to be case of H1N1.
The Collector said he would instruct schools to allow parents to accompany their children when the vaccine was being administered. He also promised to direct health officials to screen children for fever and cold prior to administering the vaccine.
Ebor Jacob, paediatric intensivist, Christian Medical College (CMC), said CMC was providing full support to the vaccination programme and the routine MMR vaccine was not being administered during the campaign period.
Among others, K.S.T. Suresh, deputy director of health services, Vellore, and E. Theranirajan, head, paediatrics, Government Vellore Medical College Hospital, were present.