Mumbai: One year since the mass immunisation drive was launched, more than one crore people across Maharashtra have yet to get their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. As per the data provided by the State Health Department, 99.78 lakh have missed their second dose of Covishield, while 17.75 lakh have yet to take their second shot of Covaxin. So far, 63.52 per cent of people in the state are fully vaccinated. Healthcare officials attribute this to negligence by the public and the several misconceptions related to the vaccines. State immunisation officials say they have taken considerable efforts to create awareness about the vaccines and have reached homes in every district to draw out the populace for the second dose but the results have not been satisfactory. A list of those who are still to get their second dose has been circulated in every district.
District health officers and collectors have cited several reasons for this gap, such as hesitancy among people with the flattening of the pandemic curve, the 84-day gap between two doses of Covishield and the initial unavailability of stock.
“When the mass immunisation programme started in January, all the focus was on cities while rural districts lagged. Now, cases have fallen and people residing in the tribal and rural areas of the state aren’t coming forward for vaccination. It is a daily struggle for us,” said a district health officer.
According to data from the public health department, Pune has the highest number of beneficiaries (10,52,899) overdue for their second dose of Covishield, followed by Nashik (7,13,145), Thane (6,73,157), Mumbai (6,25,354) and Nagpur (5,72,963). Similarly, Buldana has the highest number of beneficiaries (1,56,243) overdue for their second dose of Covaxin, followed by Amravati (94,430), Washim (93,756), Yavatmal (93,209), Latur (86,790) and Mumbai (75,391).
Dr Sachin Desai, State Immunisation Officer, said that vaccination camps are being organised near villages, schools and colleges to make people aware about taking both doses of the vaccine. In backward and tribal areas, vaccination is being done even at night. “We have set up call centres at the district level, from where people are called and are being motivated to take second dose. We are getting to see the result of these efforts, but not as much as it should be. We are making continuous efforts from our side,” he said.
Dr Rahul Pandit, a member of the state Covid-19 taskforce, said there are several factors holding back people from getting vaccinated, one of which is that most people have contracted infections in the third wave and must now wait for 84 days to take the vaccine.
“Our overall vaccine percentage is very good. However, as cases have surged in the last one month, many have contracted infections, which has delayed their second dose, making for a long waiting list,” he said.
Amid rising Omicron cases, senior health officials said they had established call centres to convince beneficiaries late for their second dose and this move had elicited a good response in some districts.
“Individual line listing is available in the district though the CoWin Portal, where we can get the mobile numbers of beneficiaries who may be called through call centres and other mechanisms to come forward and take their second dose of Covid vaccine,” said an official.
Despite district immunisation officers knocking on people’s doors and counselling them, 90 per cent of the people fail to show up at the vaccination centres, the officials said. “To facilitate vaccination, we have been arranging for drives at open spaces, and at school and college premises in the villages. But due to low response, we sometimes have to talk people into visiting vaccination centres,” a district health officer said.
