COVID-19: 91 per cent felt safe after taking Covishield vaccine, says survey

BENGALURU: It is a reassuring figure -- 91 per cent felt safe after taking the Covishield vaccine -- as per a survey. The healthcare workers said that the public can take the vaccine without any hesitancy.

The survey was done on Covid vaccine feedback at the Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, which involved 417 respondents. However, nearly 79 per cent of those surveyed have stated they were anxious about taking the vaccine.

The respondents in the survey included doctors, staff nurses, paramedical staff, research staff, supervisors, students, admin staff and administrators.

Out of the 93.8 per cent who had their first shot of the vaccine, 6.2 per cent had not got the shot due to various reasons like fear, side effects and pregnancy.

While out of the 93.8 per cent, around 92.5 per cent were satisfied with all the precautions taken by the vaccinator and organization, 7.50 per cent did not feel safe.

The hospital also analysed the side effects of the vaccine on individuals. It was noted that over 53.1 per cent did not encounter any side effects. While 20.4 per cent had tenderness, pain and warmth, 18.9 per cent had chills and felt feverish, including a small group who complained of swelling, lump and redness at the injection site.

Dr Naresh Shetty, president of Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, said that so far 2,000 people have taken the vaccination and the survey was carried out amongst 400 odd beneficiaries.

“Many of us have taken the Covishield vaccine. It is a great relief to see so many without any side effects. However, some of them had some mild to moderate reactions. We could safely say that the vaccine is quite safe and public at large can be reassured. We are now looking at the presence of antibodies in patients who have taken vaccination two weeks ago,” he said.

Talking about the anxiety in 74.9 per cent of the beneficiaries, Dr Shetty said people will feel better after the second shot where their anxiety will have reduced. 

“There are a total of 3,500 who have to be vaccinated in our hospital. Of them, 2,000 have been vaccinated. Those who did not turn up are pregnant or lactating mothers. And others have not taken the vaccine due to fear. However, in the second round, those who had the shot did not have any adverse reactions. It’s safe, people will come forward to take the jab and the fear will reduce,” he said.

Dr Shetty said another reason for people missing out on the vaccination was due to the glitches in the CoWIN app.

“Initially, we had many problems due to duplication of names, or names would not show up and the app would not open, which would cause delays. However, now, it is functioning better,” he said.