Amidst growing rumours that the cure may be worse than the novel coronavirus itself, the Department of Health and Family Welfare and private hospitals across the State are taking up awareness programmes and initiating confidence-building measures to convince healthcare workers and those on the frontlines to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Others are harnessing social media platforms to spread the word on the need to protect themselves.
A senior official in the department said they had roped in eminent doctors to get vaccinated and are using social media to address fears and stamp down on rumours. “The heads of several private and government hospitals are among the first ones to take the jab. This has encouraged many of their staff to also get the shot,” said the official.
Another health official pointed out that they will schedule a ‘mop-up round’ and schedule awareness sessions at hospitals which have reported a poor response to the vaccination drive.
Private hospitals, too, have adopted similar strategies. Heads of hospitals are coming forward and getting vaccinated ahead of junior doctors and nurses. Swati Rajagopal, consultant, infectious diseases and travel medicine, Aster CMI Hospital, said that the doctors who are getting vaccinated are putting up social media posts of them taking the jab.
Anoop Amarnath, chairman, geriatric medicine and member, Critical Care Support Group, said that the senior leadership and senior doctors are hoping this will boost the morale of their teams.
In addition to this, they were also conducting counselling sessions for their staff. “We had multiple booths that were open to ensure that people did not wait in the queue. We also made it logistically easy to ensure that our staff knew where and when to get vaccinated,” he said.
