E-Paper
Bihar: After Bankatwa, entire 18+ population of Raxaul municipal council, Piprakothi block receives first dose of vaccine
Close on the heels of completion of first dose in Bankatwa block, East Champaran’s Piprakothi block and Raxaul Municipal Council too have now inoculated the entire eligible target population above 18 years of age with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine while fighting against alleged hesitance by minority groups, district administrative officials said on Sunday
Close on the heels of completion of first dose in Bankatwa block, East Champaran’s Piprakothi block and Raxaul Municipal Council too have now inoculated the entire eligible target population above 18 years of age with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine while fighting against alleged hesitance by minority groups, district administrative officials said on Sunday.
In a tweet, health minister Mangal Pandey said, “Covid-19 vaccine has been given to all people above 18 years in Raxaul Municipal Council of East Champaran (Motihari) district. Raxaul Municipal Council became the first city council in the state where everyone was vaccinated.”
In Piprakothi block, the first dose was given to as many as 31,591 people above 18 years of age in six panchayats spread over 20 revenue villages of Piprakothi block, which has a total population of 77,089 as per Census 2011, said officials.
It took over two months for the vaccinators’ team, comprising UNICEF personnel and local health workers, to achieve the feat. The development came barely few days after Bankatwa, another block in East Champaran, became the first in the state to administer the first dose to all eligibles.
East Champaran district magistrate Shirsat Kapil Ashok said, “The number of migrants are relatively high in the block. We are keeping a tab on migrant workers and other non-residents, and efforts are on to ensure that they get vaccinated.”
They will be administered the vaccine as and when they come, said the district magistrate.
Speaking to HT over phone, Piprakothi block development officer (BDO) Manoj Kumar described the challenges they faced in convincing residents to get the vaccine. Vaccinators faced refusal in over a dozen Mahadalit and minority dominated wards across the block, he said.
However, the members of minority groups now believe in the importance of vaccine. Kunti Devi, 60, a resident of Mahadalit Basti at Belajagatiya village in Piprakothi block of East Champaran said she had misconceptions about the vaccine . “Merely the mention of the jab would unnerve me. I dodged over a dozen of attempts to be inoculated,” Devi said.
She, however, yielded to persuasion on June 25 after Motihari SDM and other officials reached her doorstep.
Similarly, the gravest worry of one Vinod Manjhi, 38 and his wife Malti Devi, 33, residents of ward number 4 of Belatal village in Piprakothi block, was the bleak future for their five children if the vaccine rendered any harm. “With the rumours that spread, I too had disbelieved in vaccination,” said Manjhi, who took the jab during a mega camp.
Lalu Manjhi, a member of Mushar Vikas (MVM), said it wasn’t easy for the organisation to convince people to take the jab. “Owing to sheer illiteracy and misconception about the vaccine, it took several meetings and awareness programmes by officials and local representatives to build up a popular opinion among Mahadalit community,” said Manjhi. The minority group have a population of about 3,000 in the block, he said.
Officials also administered the vaccines to residents of other villages in a bid to boost confidence further, said Priyaranjan Raju, subdivisional magistrate (SDM), Motihari (sadar).
Of those vaccinated in Piprakothi, 18,726 were in the age group of 18-45 years and 12,865 above 45 years of age of the total population of 31,650. “The remaining 59 are pregnant women who will be inoculated later,” said the block development officer.
