COVID-19 vaccination of those who have recovered from mental illness and are currently staying at Institute of Mental Health (IMH) Erragadda, was initiated on Saturday.
There are around 290 inmates at the largest State government health facility for people with mental illnesses. Most of them, including patients still undergoing treatment, do not have an Aadhaar card or any other government-issued identity card, which is a pre-requisite for registering for the shot. IMH superintendent M. Uma Shankar, however, said that lack of an ID card is not an obstacle in receiving the vaccine. The institute authorities are checking the health condition of the inmates and contraindications to medicines before administering the vaccine.
“We take consent before administering the vaccine,” Dr Uma Shankar said.
On Saturday, around 90 people at the institute received the vaccine. The next drive would be held by the Health department on Tuesday.
While around 35 cases were detected among inmates of the institute in the first wave of COVID, 70 were detected with coronavirus in the second wave. Currently, there are no cases.
