HYDERABAD: After a tepid response to the vaccination drive of 12-14-year-old children for the second day in a row, on Thursday, the state health authorities have decided to take the drive to schools.
“We will be going to schools and vaccinating kids in the presence of their parents, starting Monday, since the children are at schools. We are aiming at finishing vaccinating all the kids in this age group in the next two to three weeks, before the summer vacations begin. We will take up a massive drive,” said Dr G Srinivasa Rao, director, public health, Telangana.
On the second day of the rollout, the response remained lukewarm even as the count of beneficiaries turning up for vaccination saw a slight increase. Most centres in the city, however, saw only a trickle of children lining up, with many seeing less than 20 children. In some centres, a few parents turned up to make inquiries about Corbevax. “We had one parent who came with his kid but did not opt for the vaccine saying he wants to first see if any other kid takes it in front of him. There were only three others who turned up today. There is a need to create awareness about the vaccination as there was almost no announcement before the launch,” said a vaccination officer from an urban primary health centre in the city.
Meanwhile, officials said that the rollout of any new vaccine usually faces a cold response and insisted that Corbevax is safe. “There has not been a single incident of side- effects being reported. This is one of the safest vaccines as it has been derived from DNA. Parents must come forward and get their children vaccinated,” said the official, adding that the drive has been good in some districts like Yadadri, which has completed 20% of its overall target in just two days. Overall, 1,584 children were vaccinated in Hyderabad, an increase from Wednesday’s 428. This accounted for 1% of the target in the city. Across the state, a total of 63,591 children in the age group were vaccinated, reaching 6% of the statewide target of 11.3 lakh children in the age group.
