Only 1% of Pune city’s frontline workers complete two-dose vaccination course

PUNE Only one per cent of the city’s frontline workers (FLW’s) have completed the two-dose vaccination course even as 47 per cent have taken the first dose, according to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) data

PUNE Only one per cent of the city’s frontline workers (FLW’s) have completed the two-dose vaccination course even as 47 per cent have taken the first dose, according to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) data.

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For maximum efficacy, both the approved Covid vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, have to be taken twice at least four weeks apart from the first dose.

At least 57,264 FLW’s have registered themselves in Pune city, and as of March 16, as many as 27,052 have taken the first dose of the vaccine and 603 have taken the second dose and have completed the vaccination course.

Observing the lack of enthusiasm among FLW’s, the central team during their visit to the state had said that the vaccine hesitancy among FLW’s needs to be addressed, as their services would be required if the trajectory follows the upward swing as is being witnessed currently.

Rubal Agarwal, additional municipal commissioner, said, “There are some perceptions among frontline workers that one vaccine is enough and so they are not willing to come forward for the second dose. We are trying our best to convey the message.”

“Frontline workers have to understand that it is not just for their own benefit, but also the fact that they could be super spreaders. They have to get the complete efficacy which is possible only after second dose,” she said.

FLW’s are at a greater risk because of their potential exposure to the Sars-Cov-2 virus which causes the Covid infection and could then further spread the infection to their contacts. These include personnel from state and central police organisations, Armed Forces, home guards, prison staff and civil defence volunteers including disaster management volunteers, municipal workers, revenue officers engaged in containment and surveillance activities among others.

The vaccination for FLW’s began on February 8, 2021, and the administration of the second dose began on March 2. Pune has been lagging behind Mumbai and Nagpur in terms of coverage for beneficiaries under phase two and so to boost vaccination coverage in the city Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is increasing session sites every day.

The central health ministry in its letter to the state health department has written that “The central team could perceive a sense of helplessness by the field level health staff for implementing the test, track, isolate and treat policy, with other departmental staff having been withdrawn and the health staff too also pre-occupied with vaccine administration, there is a limited human resource for the surveillance and contact tracing activities. The district administration must engage the staff earlier appointed on a contractual basis to support the field staff.” It is possible that the administration might engage FLW’s for surveillance in micro-containment zones which are rising each day in the city.

As of March 16, the progressive count in PMC stands at 0.228 million and the death toll stands at 4,636, according to the state health department.