With not many takers for the booster doses, the Department of Health and Family Welfare in Mysuru launched a special weeklong vaccination drive on Friday. The drive concludes on July 22.
District Health Officer K.H. Prasad said the drive became necessary following a dull response to vaccination against COVID-19 after the drop in infection rate. The special drive aimed at expanding the vaccination coverage in 15-17 age group and 12-14 age group besides senior citizens.
As part of the drive, each ward in Mysuru city will have a vaccination booth where people can get the jabs the entire week.
In rural areas, all PHCs will carry out the drive with the health workers and staff present all through the week to administer doses to the eligible populations.
The response from people above 60 years of age for getting the booster dose was uninspiring as only 28 per cent of them taking the doses so far, according to the DHO.
“The senior citizens can make use of the opportunity and get themselves protected with the booster dose,” Dr. Prasad said.
In the 12-14 age group, 76 percent have got the second dose. The vaccination coverage in the 15-17 age group was 78 per cent (first dose) and 63 per cent (second dose).
Health authorities said there are still many who remain either partially vaccinated and unvaccinated, and urged them to get themselves fully vaccinated to stay protected against the disease. They shouldn’t neglect doses over the drop in the infection rate.
When the booster dose drive was rolled out here, the authorities had identified 4.78 lakh beneficiaries for administering the precautionary dose in Mysuru district for those above 60 years of age. About 1.99 lakh persons are eligible in Mysuru city alone for the dose.
Officials from the Department of Health and Family Welfare had identified 4,78,972 beneficiaries during the roll-out and the taluk-wise list was: Mysuru rural 41,237, Mysuru urban 1,99,034, T. Narsipur 40,087, Nanjangud 53,547, Hunsur 39,302, H.D. Kote 37,067, Periyapatna 33,717 and K.R. Nagar 34,981.
The vaccination for children aged between 15 and 18 years began a few months ago and about 1.47 lakh beneficiaries had been identified for both doses. The teams had the task of vaccinating 52,943 children in Mysuru city alone. In Mysuru district, 1,12,528 children aged between 12 and 14 years were eligible for the vaccination. The Corbevax vaccine was administered. The gap between the first and second dose was 28 days.
