The ward rooms of BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are now receiving, on an average, 50 calls daily from healthcare workers and general public enquiring about the COVID-19 vaccines. Officials said it is a good sign that people are enquiring about the vaccines before visiting the vaccination centres. Misconceptions related to the vaccines will be solved and more people will register themselves in the future.
Even though only two days have passed since the vaccination drive began, the overall turnout of beneficiaries has been less than 50 per cent across the 10 centres in the city. However, after January 16, the first day of the vaccination drive, the enquiries at the helpline number of the ward offices have increased. On an average, each ward office has been recording around 50 such calls since Saturday.
Dr Mangala Gomare, executive health officer, said they have received a good response from citizens. Most of them want to take the vaccine, but do not have much knowledge about it. “We are happy to solve the misconceptions regarding the vaccines. Most people are calling to know the difference between both Covaxin and Covishield. Meanwhile, we are also hoping that the number of beneficiaries will increase if all the doubts related to vaccines are clear,” she said.
Meanwhile, the civic body is also planning to counsel HCWs who have opted out of the vaccination drive. Firstly, they will record the reasons behind it. Then, they will provide them counselling to gain their trust. “We are also planning to gain the trust of the beneficiaries who have opted out, for which we will make a list of all those who have backed out and then will counsel them,” she added. Moreover due to the technical glitch on the centralized Co-WIN app, BMC has given the responsibility to the ward offices to call the 4,000 beneficiaries everyday.
