Telangana vax drive: Turnout of government health workers lowest in Hyderabad

In Hyderabad, there were nearly 27,725 individuals that were targeted for vaccination, however, only 9,610 turned up to take the jab.
For representational purpose (Photo | Meghana Sastry, EPS)
For representational purpose (Photo | Meghana Sastry, EPS)

HYDERABAD: Even though Hyderabad district, which was the worst-hit by Covid-19 in Telangana with the highest number of cases and deaths, the vaccine acceptance by the government healthcare workers in the district was the lowest. According to data accessed from the Telangana Health Department, only 34.7 per cent of the targeted beneficiaries took the vaccine shot in Hyderabad during the vaccination drive from January 16 to 22. The second-lowest turnout was reported in Adilabad with only 49.4 per cent of the targeted beneficiaries taking the vaccine shot.

In Hyderabad, there were nearly 27,725 individuals that were targeted for vaccination, however, only 9,610 turned up to take the jab. The turnout was still one of the highest across the State as Hyderabad has the most number of the health facilities and major tertiary hospitals as compared to the other 33 districts. “The main resistance has been from doctors and staffers from lower ranks who have opted to wait it out. Amongst the lower ranks of staff, resistance is high from family members,” said a senior health official.

One of the reasons noted is the fact that many healthcare workers believe that if they could shield themselves from the virus until now, they can wait for a few more months to see the ef ficacy of the vaccine. “We are increasing our advocacy efforts each day to allay the apprehensions. The main message is that with each passing day, new variants and mutations of the virus will come to the fore and the pandemic could take a severe turn. Unless we take the vaccine, we will not get the kind of protection from the mutating virus,” said Dr G Sriniva Rao, Director of Publ i c H e a l t h , Telangana.

During the same 5-day vaccination drive, Adilabad witnessed the thirdlowes t tur nout , where only 2,995 healthcare workers against the targeted 6 , 0 6 2 g o t vaccinated. Other districts with an underwhelming turnout were Sangareddy (52.2%), Nalgonda (54.5%), Jangaon (57.7%) and Rangareddy (58.2%). However, areas such as Nirmal and Warangal Urban, which saw deaths after the administration of vaccine, did not see a severe impact on the turnout and had a 71.2 per cent and 68.4 per cent coverage respectively.

186 new cases in State

Telangana recorded 186 new Covid-19 cases, 306 recoveries and one death on Wednesday. With this, the active cases fell to 2,698 cases. The Statewide tally of cases is 2,93,923 and the toll stands at 1,594.

Wait and watch policy

Many healthcare workers believe that if they could shield themselves from the virus until now, they can wait for a few more months to see the efficacy of the vaccine

Vaccination drive data:

  • Total beneficiaries eligible from government HCW- 1,71,375
  • Total beneficiaries who took the vaccine from government HCW- 1,09,015
  • Percentage of beneficiaries vaccinated- 63.6%
  • Number of minor AEFI- 189
  • Highest vaccination target achieved- Bhadradri Kothugudem- 94.2%
  • Lowest vaccination target achieved - Hyderabad- 34.7%

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