NEW DELHI: The number of healthcare workers registering to take the vaccine showed a slow but inexorable rise on Saturday across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkand. In Tamil Nadu, however, the number of people being inoculated against Covid-19 fell.
The reasons for the rise were varying, from those emboldened by seeing senior doctors subject themselves to the first dose to a positive review in Lancetto news about recoveries among people who had reported adverse reactions and foreign demand for Indian-manufactured vaccines.
A Lancet report has said Covaxin has proved safe and has produced an immune response in a small group of adults aged 18 to 55.
Madhya Pradesh saw a rise in the vaccine curve, going by the turnout of the first four days. On day 1, January 16, just over 64% of the 15,000 intended beneficiaries had turned up. It shot up to 67.3%, and this led the authorities to increase the target for day 4, January 21, to 16,881.
Though the overall vaccination rate in Bihar hovered about 50%, individual state government-run hospitals were showing an upward trend on Saturday with more and more healthcare workers stepping to be inoculated. For instance, Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) saw a 107% turnout on Saturday.
“Thankfully six beneficiaries who were supposed to take the shot on another day, voluntarily came forward to get the vaccine on Saturday,” Dr Bimal Karak, PMCH superintendent, said. He cited several reasons for this improvement, including the positive report on Covaxin appearing in the Lancet. Another factor was the coming forward of heads of hospitals and senior health department officials, which helped address the hesitancy among healthcare workers.
In Jharkhand, too, the Lancet review and reports of foreign demand for the Indian-developed vaccine boosted confidence. Jharkhand’s vaccination drive nodal officer Dr Ajit Prasad said: “We have reported a hike of around 8% in turnout as our coverage on Thursday touched 68% from an average of 60% reported last week. The reason behind the increase is the confidence developing among our healthcare workers after medical experts globally vouched for the efficacy of an Indian vaccine.”
Around 24,282 healthcare workers were inoculated in Maharashtra on Saturday, the fifth day of vaccinations in the state. It managed to cover 83% of the targeted number, up from 73% a day earlier.
Maharashtra, in fact, recorded the highest turnout among the 27 states that had vaccination drives on Saturday. Mumbai managed its highest score so far, with 4,374 healthcare workers — 90% of the target — taking the vaccine.
In TN, a day after health minister Vijayabaskar, a doctor, took the indigenous Covaxin to motivate healthcare providers, the state reported a drop in the number of vaccinations to 7,575 (till 7 pm) from the 8,704 vaccinations it had reported by the same time on Friday and 9,277 on Thursday.
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