In a shocking revelation, more than 52,000 people seem to have lowered their guard against the deadly pandemic by failing to turn up for their second dose of coronavirus vaccine, thus raising serious concerns for the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) towards the looming threat of a resurgence of the disease despite a relatively low infection rate in the twin-city.
As per the data sourced out from MBMC’s health department, 52,273 people are yet to get themselves inoculated for their second shot even after the expiry of the due date.
Health experts believe that the first dose acts as a launchpad and primes the immune response, even as the second dose amplifies and makes the immune response against the virus much stronger while ensuring the durability of protection.
Stung by the cold shoulder response, MBMC’s health department has finally rolled up its sleeves to launch an intensive campaign to ensure that none of the targeted beneficiaries skips the second dose.
Apart from making phone calls to beneficiaries from the dedicated Covid-War room and installing public announcing systems in auto-rickshaws, the civic administration has deployed special teams of healthcare workers to conduct door-to-door surveys in the twin-city, not only to trace those skipping the second dose but also to motivate those who are yet to take the first shot.
While the health department has an ample stock of more than 60,000 doses, as many as eighteen public healthcare units have been facilitating vaccination services across the twin-city. Moreover, 3 out of the 18 government centres remain operational for 12 hours from 8 am to 8 pm.
The enthusiasm among a section of people to get vaccinated has dropped can be gauged by the fact that an average of only 3,000 to 4,000 people approaches the centres to get inoculated.
The MBMC has identified a total of 7,65,805 eligible beneficiaries. While 3,80,557 people have been administered both doses, 6,15,681 people have taken the single-dose out of which 52,273 people have failed to turn up for getting fully vaccinated within the stipulated time gap.
