As the third wave of the pandemic is wreaking havoc, people of Chandigarh are hesitant to take the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine. It has come to the light that second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is pending in 97967 people. And this is mostly because of the prevalent vaccine hesitancyamongst the population.
According to the data provided by the health department second dose is due in 9292 people(12 to 16 weeks have passed since the first dose). Whereas, the second jab is overdue in 88675 people (more than 16 weeks have passed since the first dose).
1st dose of the COVISHIELD vaccine was administered more than 12 weeks ago and these people have not yet got their second dose. A separate calling center has been set up in Chandigarh Housing Board and each person is being separately contacted on the given mobile number a drive has been undertaken to administer the second dose in all the above cases.
JABS FOR CHILDREN
The vaccination of children between the age of 15yrs to 18yrs started from 3rd January 2022 and so far Chandigarh has vaccinated about 65% of the targeted population (72,000). Health department officials said, “We are quite behind because many of the States/UTs have covered more than 90% of their targeted population of children. We set a target of providing first dose vaccination to 100% of the targeted population of our children but now it is not possible due to slow pace of daily vaccination. Now we have revised the target to 26th January.”
The targeted population of 60 years plus with co-morbid in UT Chandigarh is 15,600. Further the targeted population of healthcare workers and frontline workers is 26237 and 22438 respectively. Precaution Dose to all these eligible persons is being administered from 10th January, 2022.