HYDERABAD: Health officials are likely to extend the door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination programme for a few more days because of the sluggish progress in Old City. GHMC and the health department have taken up a 15-day vaccination effort to ensure the city is fully vaccinated.
Official sources said many people in the Old City were scared that the vaccine would cause negative effects and questioned its efficacy. “Despite efforts to explain the benefits of the vaccine, some families are unwilling to receive it. We cannot force them,” the sources said.
When the door-to-door drive began, over 70% of the eligible people had been inoculated in the city. However, officials were facing difficulties convincing the remaining 30%. “Most people in Old City are hesitant to provide data and generally refuse to provide specifics about the vaccine they received. In some areas, they even locked their houses and became incommunicado,” a government employee, who is part of the vaccine drive, said.
The officials have noted details of families who refuse to take the vaccine as “unwilling”. Leaving such houses, they have been declaring the area as completely vaccinated. Approximately 37 lakh people have received Covid- 19 vaccine in the city so far. But a few government vaccine centres in the Old City have not been able to administer more than 3,000 jabs since the first phase of the vaccine drive began in March.
Another issue encountered was the 30-minute mandated time mobile trucks had to spend after administering the jab. “Spending 30 minutes in each area is challenging,” the sources said.
