TIRUCHY: It's been almost two weeks since the launch of the COVID-19 booster vaccine drive in the State for healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens. But the response has so far been tepid. In Tiruchy, of the 30,000 eligible for the precautionary dose, only 5,011 have taken the shot till Friday.
Across the State too, the response has been lukewarm. Only about 6,000 to 10,000 people are taking the booster shot per day across the State, according to Health Department sources.
One of the reasons is that numerous healthcare and frontline workers have recently been diagnosed with Covid. As the shot can only be taken three months after recovery, many are unable to take the vaccine despite being eligible.
"Many doctors and healthcare workers were infected recently. Therefore, they are unable to take the booster shot. There is no other hesitation," said Dr MS Ashraf, former national vice president, Indian Medical Association (IMA). Many people are not able to take the vaccine as they have not completed nine months since the second shot.
Administering booster dose for a section of eligible people is getting delayed due to "registration issues" too. They have been registered as 'citizen' in the Cowin portal, while vaccination is allowed only for healthcare workers (HCW), frontline workers (FLW) and senior citizens.
A frontline worker, who was denied the booster shot, said, "My date for getting booster shot was on January 20. When I went to the vaccination centre, to my dismay, they said I could not be vaccinated as my name was registered as a ‘citizen’, instead of frontline worker. I was told I could not get vaccinated since the portal does not show that the dose is due."
Meanwhile, healthcare officials said this was due to human error of the person doing the data entry. "At the time of giving the first dose, instead of mentioning FLW or HCW, the data entry operator must have registered them as citizens. In such cases, we really can't do anything. This has happened in very few cases," said a doctor at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH).
However, Collector S Sivarasu said that in such cases, if the concerned person produces their ID card, they should be vaccinated. He said no healthcare or frontline worker would be denied their booster shot.
Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan said that everyone eligible would be vaccinated. "If someone has such a technical issue, we will ensure they are vaccinated. The response has been low so far. We request everyone eligible to come forward and get vaccinated," Radhakrishnan added.