Vijayapura: The senior citizens and the people with comorbidities appear to be still reluctant to take the Covid vaccine even after several politicians and top bureaucrats getting themselves vaccinated to dispel the fear in Bijapur and Bagalkot district.
According to the Bijapur District Administration, a total of 8,743 were registered for vaccination and 6,349 have been vaccinated, which is 72.62 percent, in February. Since the start of the third phase, merely 885 beneficiaries out of 2,800 people have got a vaccination, which is less than 35 percent.
Deputy Commissioner P Sunil Kumar however claimed compared to other districts Bijapur is performing well.
“ Though we received poor response in the beginning it picked up pretty well later. However, people mostly above 60 years and with comorbidities are still hesitating to take up the jab. We are making our best efforts to convince them. For a couple of days, we have been receiving the good response”, said DC Sunil Kumar.
Apart from beneficiaries failing to turn-up for the vaccination centers the people are returning to homes without taking the jab because of technical glitches and registration issues in both the districts, claimed sources.
Even in Bagalkot, the response has remained the same as merely people are turning up for the vaccination centers.
Dr. Ananth Desai, District Health Officer of Bagalkot said that “In the third phase we are managing to administer vaccination around 50 percent every day. However, the response is not satisfying. We are creating awareness among the people to take the jab. We believe that from Monday, the vaccination might increase as it is being allowed to start in all the hospitals,” added DHO Desai.
Manjunath Badiger (63), a resident of Mudhol, said that “I am yet to take up the vaccination as few people died after taking the vaccination. Though it has not been proved that they died because of vaccination, however, I will wait for another month,” said Manjunath, who is a retired teacher.
