SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad: Nov 1: Non-payment of salary to Sahiyas and indefinite strike by National Health Mission (NHM) contractual employees have left the health department of nine districts gasping to achieve their Covid vaccination target.
As per official records of the state as well as central government, nine districts of Jharkhand including Giridih, Deoghar, Pakur, Sahebganj, Godda, West Singhbhum, Garhwa, Latehar and Gumla have less than 50% coverage in administering the first dose of Covid vaccine.
Taking less than 50% coverage seriously, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review it with the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of the above-mentioned districts on November 3 and inquire about the reasons behind the slow vaccination drive.
Most of the civil surgeons of these districts have held the strike of Sahiyas, festive season and indifferent attitude of people towards vaccination due to sharp fall in Covid infection cases, as the reasons responsible for poor vaccination pace.
“The main reason is that in the wake of the reducing Covid cases, people are not serious about the impact of pandemic anymore. There is a need for motivation for them to get vaccinated. The Sahiyas who motivate them are on strike as they have not been paid honorarium for the last four months. However, the district administration and health department have left no stone unturned to cover maximum people to achieve the target,” observed Dr. Manish Jha, Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer, Deoghar.
The civil surgeon of Giridih, Dr. SP Mishra, held carelessness of people towards danger of infection and festive season as the reasons behind fall in vaccination.
“It is a shocking report (less than 50 % vaccination) for us as we have taken all possible steps to cover the targeted people. People are coming in less numbers at vaccination sites. The reason behind it can be the festival season or their indifferent attitude toward infection,” said Dr. Mishra.
However, civil surgeon of Pakur, Dr. Ramdev Paswan, expressed surprise over the report of the state government as well as the central government.
“Pakur has a coverage record of 56%. On what record basis its achievement has been assessed below 50% is surprising. We have launched a mega drive for vaccination and cover 10,000 to 11,000 people per day. Besides it, door to door vaccination in urban and rural areas is also being done,” said Dr. Ramdev Paswan.
Most of the civil surgeons in this regard have said that there is no dearth of vaccine doses and infrastructure to achieve the target set by the state health department.
