Parents’ visits to PHCs for shots see a rise as schools make it mandatory for children to attend physical classes to vaccinate them
The omicron threat and circulars from schools for mandatory vaccination of parents to facilitate their children to attend physical classes have seen a sudden rise in vaccinations in PHCs, with people voluntarily immunizing themselves with the first or second dose of the vaccine. Willing to get vaccinated.
There was a time when PHCs were struggling to vaccinate at least 50 persons in a day. In the last four days, in most of the PHCs in the city, the number has reached close to 200 per day.
“If the fear of the new COVID-19 variant is one reason, the other is about the fear of losing profits, assuming the government can bring in new rules to make vaccination mandatory. Schools have started asking parents for vaccination certificates. Such a rule could be extended to other areas. In view of all these factors, an increase has been observed in the number of people seeking vaccination,” health department sources said here.
Recently, the Mysuru district administration urged people to get vaccinated against the deadly virus as nearly 2 lakh people skipped their second dose despite completing the 84-day gap.
Despite the Mysuru district having adequate doses of vaccines, there were not many people to take advantage of the jabs after the severity of the pandemic subsided and the cases dropped sharply. Vaccine hesitancy became apparent, especially in the city of Mysore where more than a million people recently skipped their second dose. This became a matter of great concern to the officers who used all possible means to get jobs for the people of 18 years and above.
Amid the threat of a third wave, people refused to receive vaccines when health workers went to their doorsteps to expand vaccination coverage.
“Definitely, there has been an improvement in vaccination in the last three to four days,” said a government medical official. People are calling and inquiring about the availability of the vaccine. Also, people now have a choice in vaccines which was not there earlier.”
There has been a slight increase in the administration of the first dose, even as those who are skipping their second dose are coming in for the shots. He said that was not the case until 15 days ago, because the number of people who took the first dose was very low or almost zero.
“The Omicron fear is a strong reason, apart from strict measures on vaccination amid the fresh threat, for the sudden increase in vaccinations. Restrictions on entry of unvaccinated people in some places may further increase the coverage, which will help the authorities to reach their target,” said an official heading an urban PHC here.
In addition, inquiries for booster doses have also seen a rise, with vaccinated individuals visiting PHCs and seeking details from health workers whether a booster dose is available for them or not.
More mobile vaccination camps have been put into service in Mysuru to improve coverage.
‘Need to speed up’
DHO KS Prasad told Hindu That 25,000 persons were vaccinated on Monday, an increase of about 5,000, as an average of 20,000 were being vaccinated daily. “Vaccination still needs to be accelerated as we aim to reach 100 per cent by the end of December,” he said. The DHO said that out of 24 lakh people, 17 lakh people have received the second dose so far.
,