Gurugram shows marked improvement in vaccine coverage

Over 80% of the targeted 6,250 front-line healthcare workers took the Covid vaccine jab in private and government facilities on Monday, as per the data shared by the district health department

Over 80% of the targeted 6,250 front-line healthcare workers took the Covid vaccine jab in private and government facilities on Monday, as per the data shared by the district health department. The surge in vaccination comes after a consistent dip in the turnout during the weekend, when only about 55% of the beneficiaries showed up. Health officials attributed the sharp rise in the footfall to easy walk-in options for staffers of private nursing homes and clinics.

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As many as 5,002 healthcare workers took the jab as against the target of 6,250 in 101 session sites. Nearly 80% (4,806 health workers) were vaccinated with Covishield out of the 6,000 targeted beneficiaries at 98 sites. Among them, at least 133 healthcare workers of National Security Guard (NSG) and 150 staff members of ESIC hospital took the vaccine. A total of 196 out of 250 healthcare workers took Covaxin at three vaccination sites.

According to chief medical officer, Dr Virender Yadav, the footfall was higher on Monday as doctors and healthcare staff were allowed to get vaccinated at any of the sites. “Besides those who have received SMS regarding vaccination location, we permitted the health workers already registered on Co-WIN to freely walk in at any of the 101 sites to take the jab. The vaccination sites were given access to the complete list of registered beneficiaries instead of the targeted ones as was done in the past few days,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer.

Yadav said he also visited several hospitals to motivate the staff in private hospitals. “Motivation and mobilisation of the health staff are crucial in clearing the hesitancy. Messages were delivered almost a day before the vaccination to clear the doubts,” he said, mentioning that he interacted with medical officers to reach out to their staff. Dr Ajay Gupta, vice president, Indian Medical Association (IMA), who took the vaccine on Monday, said that the doctors turned up in large numbers at various sites. “For doctors who have not been registered or have missed out the vaccination are likely to be covered in the next rounds,” said Gupta.

Till now, over 19,485 front-line health workers have been inoculated, which covers almost 53% of the registered staff in the district. To include the remaining staff in the coverage, health officials are likely to finalise the strategy for the coming week as there will be no be no drive on Tuesday due to Republic Day.

“The target on Monday was to inoculate majority of doctors and other health staff by setting up the maximum vaccination sites. Almost 50% of the registered front-line healthcare workers have taken the jab due to continuous drive in the last few days. For the next few days, only limited session sites will be set up.” Dr MP Singh, district immunisation officer, said.

“On January 27, only limited sites will be set up in private facilities and there will be no vaccination for public health care staff. Further planning will be done on Tuesday,” said Singh.