KOCHI: From promising to vaccinate all eligible population with the first dose by Sept 30, the state’s vaccination drive has now slowed down even as cases remain on a high plateau. Between mid-August and early September, amid fears that cases may surge after Onam, Kerala quickened its vaccination drive and gave the first dose of the vaccine to 17.13% of the eligible population, taking the total vaccinated with the first dose to 79.11 %.
In the first week of September, the state vaccinated 13.4 lakh people, but this nearly dropped by half in the last week, between September 24 and 30, to 7.68 lakhs. In the last one week, the number of persons vaccinated reduced further to 5.80 lakh. Health officials said the main reason for this was that people are not scared and eager to be vaccinated as Covid cases are reducing in the country.
“Now there is no fear factor. In August, during the peak of Covid, there was an eagerness to get vaccinated and people were waiting in queue for the vaccine. Now when we call them to get vaccinated, they act lethargic. This is true even with some people who are due for the second dose,” said Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) president Dr GS Vijayakrishnan.
Though a majority of the population were vaccinated with the first do- se, the task of getting the remaining population (minus the 10-lakh infected with Covid who can be vaccinated after 90 days of infection) to take their vaccine is turning out to be cumbersome task, despite the efforts of the health department and LSGDs.
Along with vaccine hesitancy and dip in Covid cases, there is a feeling among a few that there is no need to get vaccinated right away. “Almost all states that have covered 85-90% of its eligible population with the first dose have slowed down. Kerala has vaccinated more than 94% of its eligible population at a decent speed and we are one of the best examples of how to conduct the process,” said health department’s NC Krishnaprasad, who has been collecting Covid data from state and central health departments.
