Only 31% of the 21,549 registered health care workers in Nagaland have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first phase. Meanwhile, only 5% of the 51,718 registered frontline workers have been vaccinated in the second phase.
This was informed during a review meeting of the Nagaland State Task Force held on February 11 to assess the progress of the first and second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the State.
The meeting was chaired by Principal Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Amardeep Singh Bhatia IAS.
State Immunization Officer UIP, Dr Ritu Thurr presented a detailed report on the progress of the first and second phase of the ongoing COVID-19 Vaccination Drive which is scheduled to conclude in nine days time. Several issues related to the low overall coverage percentage in the State were brought out and discussed in detail.
A report from the DIPR stated that the low coverage percentage can be attributed greatly due to the “reluctance of a majority of the health care workers as well as the frontline workers to take the vaccine for fear of side effects.”
The vaccine can only be administered to those that volunteer themselves. The Health Department said it is working hard to sensitise the people regarding the safety of the COVID 19 vaccine. So far out of the 8,948 persons vaccinated in the State, there have been zero instances of people who have suffered serious medical side effects apart from mild cases of fever and pain in the injected area, which is normal for all vaccines and not just the COVID 19 vaccine.
The State Task Force discussed in detail the steps required to tackle the problem of the low coverage and to make sure that the number of vaccines administered increases rapidly in the remaining nine days before the conclusion of phase one and two of the COVID-19 vaccination drive.
Many other departments under the Government of Nagaland namely Social Welfare, Rural Development and Directorate of Information and Public Relations promised to aid the Health Department in sensitizing the public regarding the safety of the vaccine and also provide logistical support to ensure that a majority if not all of the healthcare workers and frontline workers receives the vaccine.
Several issues and problems faced by the different district immunization officers regarding the vaccination drive in their respective districts were also discussed at length during the meeting and the State Task Force collectively vowed to address the issues cited at the earliest and with utmost urgency.
(Source: Morung Express)