More than one million health workers in India have now been vaccinated for coronavirus, with more than 230,000 taking doses on Thursday alone, according to government data. It shows an increase in daily immunizations after the reports surfaced that vaccine drive was losing momentum on account of vaccine hesitancy reported across India.
The figures reported on Thursday are the highest in a single day-the highest before this was a little more than 200,000 doses issued on the day of the launch on January 16-and come on the back of tweaks on the digital management platform to encourage walk-ins and frequent appeals for people to come forward from top government officials.
Nearly 10 lakhs vaccinated in India
The Delhi government has declared that it will gradually raise the number of centres to 1,000. The number of vaccination teams, along with the centres, will also be increased to 1,101 to help perform the target inoculation of one lakh individuals every day.
On January 16, the inoculation drive began with 81 centres in Delhi, although initially 89 centres had been established.
Although only a little over 57% of the target, the total number of vaccinations is an increase over what was seen on Wednesday when it was 55%. Some areas, such as Delhi, saw a big increase in turnout, with the city averaging about 50 per cent, but on Thursday it was over 73 per cent.
On the fourth day of the Covid-19 vaccination drive on Thursday, a comparatively high turnout of 73 per cent was observed, even as plans were already underway to raise the number of inoculation centres from the existing 81 to 175. Government officials in Delhi said the scaling-up would start next week.
“The app has been updated to allow the development of more session sites, more sessions per site, and changes to the location of the site as per local requirements. Instead of a regular programme, the officials concerned can now plan and schedule sessions for the poor as a whole,” said Manohar Agnani, additional secretary of the Ministry of Health.
Fastest country to crack the million mark
Data from Oxford University Our World in Data reveals that India is now the fastest country to crack the million mark, taking just six days compared to nine days in the United States. However, almost nine million more health workers do need to be vaccinated and, at two doses per person (the second dose must be given 28 days after the first dose), India will need to step up its pace further to reach the 300 million goals it has set for later this summer.
The speed in recent days has concerned the authorities as well as the experts and has contributed to a waste of doses because the vaccines at some locations could not find enough recipients to finish the quantity of the vials they had opened.
On Tuesday, the country’s top health officials called on recipients not to be reluctant and said it was especially disturbing that, despite sufficient data and arrangements to handle side effects, doctors and nurses were hesitant.
Kuch toh log kahenge, logon kaam hai kehna
The government launched a mass awareness campaign on Thursday, tapping even an old Bollywood classic to drive home its message, a Kishore Kumar song from Rajesh Khanna starring Amar Prem in 1972.
“Kuch toh log kahenge, logon kaam hai kehna…” is a song composed by the late RD Burman, whose lyrics have been changed and appear on a series of posters created by the Union Ministry of Health asking people to ignore vaccine-related rumours. The lyrics translate as “people are going to say something; then it’s their job to say that…”
The posters also include quotes from health care workers who took the Covid-19 shot.
