With around 1.15 crore people in Maharashtra yet to take the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, medical experts feel that the state government will have to adopt a more foolproof programme to counter the prevalent vaccine hesitancy. In December last year, the state had launched Dastak on Phones, an initiative to convince defaulters to get vaccinated. As part of the programme, district-wise call centres were put into action. But, Dr Avinash Desousa, president of Bombay Psychiatric Society, said that such programmes would need to address the fear with regards to side-effects post vaccination.

Dr Avinash Desousa