E-Paper
Rural Amritsar lags urban areas in getting the jab
Even as 62% of the urban eligible population has got at least one shot, the corresponding figure for the rural areas is 38%. Officials attribute the lower coverage to lack of awareness and misleading propaganda on social media
Amritsar Rural areas in this border district continue to lag urban areas in getting vaccinated. Even as 62% of the urban eligible population has got at least one shot, the corresponding figure for the rural areas is 38%. The district has a population of 26.5 lakh and 42% of the eligible population has been given the jab.
In a silver lining of sorts, 40 of 846 villages in the district have been declared as fully vaccinated. The overall gap, however, between urban and rural response to getting the jab is worrying officials of the health department.
Officials attribute the lower coverage to lack of awareness and misleading propaganda on social media. Residents in urban areas are keen to be vaccinated, they add. Limited supply of vaccination is also a factor.
Health department officials add that 40% of the district’s population (around 1 lakh) is below 18, so the remaining 1.6 lakh people are the main target. In addition to the higher population in rural areas, residents of 50-odd slums that dot the city have also been laggards.
Many residents here complain of not getting the time to line up in the vaccination queue, as they go for hard labour during the day.
District medical officer Dr Karan Mehra, said, “The gap between the rural and the urban areas is due to the unwillingness of people living in the countryside. Some of them fear that vaccination would make them sick. As a third wave is predicted, they join get themselves inoculated.”
He added, “We’ve arranged a special mobile van for Thursday, which will reach the slums and rural areas to clear people’s doubts.”
Assistant civil surgeon Dr Amarjeet Singh said, “We have been facing shortage of vaccines, but people must shun any apprehensions. We have to be careful for another four weeks to get a measure of control over the spread of the virus.”
Previously too, the rural population had resisted testing. Finally, the Amritsar-rural police had to be roped in to ensure the health department could complete its target.
