608 health workers receive Covid-19 vaccines in Gurugram

Over 608 front-line healthcare workers in Gurugram took the Covid-19 vaccine jab on Saturday amid the scepticism regarding the vaccine safety, said officials

Over 608 front-line healthcare workers in Gurugram took the Covid-19 vaccine jab on Saturday amid the scepticism regarding the vaccine safety, said officials.

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On the day of a nationwide roll-out of the coronavirus vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — the district witnessed only a 60% footfall among the listed beneficiaries on the first day of the process. Workers who were set for vaccination on January 18 were called in to achieve the 100% target, senior officials’ privy to the matter said.

Of the 600 registered healthcare workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, only 408 turned up for the vaccination till 4.30pm. “Due to less footfall after 4pm, it was decided to extend the list and call other healthcare workers who were enlisted to get vaccinated from January 18,” said a senior health official preferring anonymity.

The official said, “At several sites, the vaccination had to be continued till 7pm to get an overall coverage of 600 vaccine beneficiaries at six sites.”

Dr Virender Yadav, the chief medical officer, said, “Despite some challenges, we managed to achieve a 100% coverage. We had targeted to inoculate 600 persons and our teams managed to cover 608 healthcare workers. There has been no instance of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) in the district. Across the state, 13 AEFI instances have been reported.”

The first inoculation on Saturday came at a time when the district has reported more than 57,000 cases of Covid-19 and at least 349 deaths till now. Both are the highest in Haryana.

Doses were administered to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and anganwadi workers at four government session sites under the Chauma, Wazirabad, Daulatabad and Bhangrola urban primary health centres. At the private hospital session sites — Medanta and SGT Medical College — doses were administered to health workers directly dealing with Covid-19 patients at Covid wards and emergency ward.

The Covishield vaccine was administered at five sites, except at Chauma in Palam Vihar, where the Covaxin vaccine was administered. For getting the Covaxin jab, workers had to sign a consent form.

Healthcare staffer Radha Chowdhary, 47, was the first to take the vaccine jab in Gurugram, followed by senior doctors of the health department. Dr Virender Yadav, the chief medical officer, Dr MP Singh, the district immunisation officer and medical officers of Urban Primary Health Centres. At private hospitals, senior doctors, nurses and sanitation staff were inoculated.

With healthcare workers being the priority group in the central government’s plan, the health department plans to inoculate almost 43,000 workers in 28 days. The immunisation programme will be extended to other session sites in the coming weeks, for a wider reach as well as to cover workers in private set-ups. The district administration and health department will try to cover 4,600 healthcare workers at 46 vaccination sites every day, starting January 18.