Vaccination of 60-plus population sluggish after initial high; experts raise concerns

The pace of vaccination of the 60plus population has become sluggish in the past few weeks after an initial high with healthcare experts attributing it to mobility issues and misinformation and unsubstantiated apprehensions about the jabsAccording to Health Ministry data 229 crore elderly people have been fully vaccinated so far while 671 crore have received just one dose of Covid19 vaccine till nowThe 60plus population in India was projected to be at 143 crore in 2021 so that would imply that just 16 per cent of them have been fully vaccinated till nowVaccination for those over 60 years of age and those of 45plus with comorbidities started from March 1 at both government and private centresOn an average about 8077 lakh vaccine doses were given to the 60plus population per week between March 13 and April 2 but the weekly figure dropped to about 32 lakh between June 5 to 25 according to the dataHealthcare experts expressed concern over the slow place of vaccination of the 60plus people who are more prone to have comorbidities and remain more susceptible to severe diseaseDr Sujeet Ranjan Executive Director of The Coalition for Food and Nutrition Security CFNS said myths misconceptions and rumours about Covid19 vaccines are the biggest hurdle to vaccination coverageSome people think they will never contract Covid19 others believe that the virus itself is on the way out Irrational mistrust of scientifically approved vaccines is also a factor While vaccine hesitancy has always been a phenomenon in our country today it tends to accentuated by opinions on social media where even people with no subject expertise but having wide following can influence people he saidSome people in rural areas believe that Covid19 is mostly for urban people Also many people have heard on the social media that the vaccine and its sideeffects will show up two to three years from now These rumours suspicion and fear are making it harder to remove vaccine hesitancy he addedHe said it has also been observed that most public places in rural areas lack senior citizenfriendly infrastructureHospitals have expressed concern over the slow pace of vaccination of 60plus people who also suffer from the maximum number of comorbiditiesDr Shuchin Bajaj Founder Director Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals said vaccine hesitancy in the elderly population is a very real issueAmong many factors one is a fear that people with previous heart disease will have some issue because of some unfortunate videos that were circulating around Some people have done their CRP creactive protein tests also to see if that was raised and then they feel that they should not take the vaccine Bajaj saidBajaj said mobility is also a very big issue for the 60plus age groupThe most important problem is mobility because they are not really able to visit the vaccination centres themselves and also they have a fear that if they go into a crowded place they will catch Covid19 We need to ensure that we educate them about the various risk factors and try to provide vaccination to them at their doorstep he saidDr Piyush Goel Senior Consultant Pulmonary and Critical Care Columbia Asia Hospital Palam Vihar Gurugram said for massscale vaccine coverage vaccine hesitancy is one of the biggest hurdlesAs there has been a recent drop in the pace of vaccination among people above the age of 60 there are fears that this vaccine hesitancy can hamper the coverage of this population group most vulnerable to Covid19 he saidDr Roshan Palresha Consultant Emergency Medicine Columbia Asia Hospital Pune said the recent drop in Covid19 vaccine coverage among the 60plus group of people is a cause of concern as they are more prone to have comorbidities and remain more susceptible to severe diseaseldquoPeople aged 60 and more must understand that while the number of infected people may go up or down their vulnerability to the disease and chances of mortality remain the same and can be reduced only with vaccines he saidIn the past we have successfully reduced cases of HIVAIDS and polio through sustained and focussed media campaigns and it should help this time too Government representatives must engage in dialogue with these people and may also come up with nonfinancial incentives to encourage people he suggestedDr HK Mahajan Anesthesiologist Indian Spinal Injuries Centre Vasant Kunj said focus should be on getting across two key vaccine messages vaccines provide protection against Covid19 and vaccines are safeMahajan said vaccine hesitancy in people over the age of 60 years in India could also be because of misinformation myth and skepticismTo counter this Mahajan suggested that frontline health workers and hospitals should issue statements in favour of vaccinationInfluential people like film actors famous personalities should also be tapped to appeal to the public to get vaccinated he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability 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