Second dose of Covid vaccine overdue for 75,526 people in Chandigarh

75,526 people, who have taken their first dose of Covid vaccines from healthcare facilities in Chandigarh, are overdue for their second dose of Covid vaccine

Around 75,526 people, who have taken their first dose of Covid-19 vaccines from healthcare facilities in Chandigarh, have not turned up to take their second jab even after the completion of the recommended vaccine time gap, the UT health department said on Thursday.

75,526 people are overdue for their second dose of Covid vaccine in Chandigarh. They have taken their first dose of vaccine from various healthcare facilities. (HT File Photo/ Representational image)

Of the total, 75,416 people have been administered the first dose of the Covishield vaccine 16 weeks ago while 110 have taken Covaxin more than 6 weeks ago. Those with overdue vaccines include residents of Chandigarh and migrants who had got their first jab from city vaccination centres.

According to the latest electoral list and Central government’s set target, around 8.4 lakh people are to be immunised in Chandigarh. As on Thursday, 9,24,651 (110%) people, including migrants, have taken their first shot in Chandigarh, while 5,38,381 are fully vaccinated.

The vaccination drive in Chandigarh is gradually slowing down with the weekly vaccination average dipping as only 3,341 people, on average, were vaccinated with the first and second dose daily for the past one week. On Thursday, only 2,924 doses were administered to people.

UT health secretary Yashpal Garg said, “Since 75,526 people had taken the first dose of vaccine, this shows that they are not hesitant to get vaccinated. This is strange that even after recording no severe side effects post immunisation, people are not turning up to take their second dose. As per the Central government’s CoWIN app, these people have missed their second dose despite a reminder message, which is automatically sent to the beneficiary once they are eligible for the second dose.”

The UT health department is now telephonically contacting these people and is conducting a special drive to vaccinate them at the earliest.

“The UT administration has a sufficient number of vaccines, Covishield in government hospitals and Covaxin in private facilities, and there is no waiting time for getting the vaccination either for the first dose or for the second dose. Also, those who have moved out of Chandigarh after getting their first dose can take their next jab anywhere in the country,” Garg said, while requesting people to come forward for complete vaccination.

‘Second dose important for controlling transmission’

Meanwhile, Dr Suman Singh, director, health services, Chandigarh, said, “The first dose of vaccine helps in building antibodies, but without a booster dose, the antibodies are insufficient to fight the virus, especially with more deadly variants spreading fast. Even in the second wave of the pandemic, people who had just got their first dose were getting infected. The second dose is very important to lower the infection severity and to control the transmission.”

“The beneficiaries get a message from the CoWIN app when they get eligible for the second dose and they must end hesitancy and come forward to take the jab. The complete vaccination will increase herd immunity in Chandigarh and will help in averting the third wave of the pandemic, especially when transmission can increase due to the festive season,” she said.

GRAPHICS

Target population above 18 years in Chandigarh: 8,43,000

Vaccination status

Coverage as on Thursday

Percentage

1 st dose

9,24,651

109.69%

2 nd dose

5,38,381

63.86%