Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy a thing of the past in Dhubri district

A CORRESPONDENT

DHUBRI: Vaccine hesitancy against Covid-19 is a thing of the past in Dhubri district where people of all castes, creeds and religions stand in serpentine queues to take the vaccine without any fear.

In the changed scenario, people have to return without taking the vaccine because of a huge rush.

When asked, a health official said that there was no shortage of vaccines. "However, vaccines are allocated to centres according to assessed demands a day before the vaccination. Say 200 vaccines are allocated to a vaccination centre, but more than 200 people stand in a queue. In such cases, several people have to take vaccines the very next day," the health official said.

Noor Mahammad of Dharmasala village standing in the queue said, "I'm standing in the queue for the second day. I will get inoculated today (Wednesday). Earlier I got swayed by rumours, but now having seen the situation getting worse by every passing day I have made up my mind to go for vaccination."

Deb Kumar of Dhubri town and his wife too, who all along opposed vaccination, got vaccinated.

When contacted, Dhubri district immunization officer Dr Joydip Bhattacharyya said that from January this year till Thursday a total of 2,10,162 (Covaxin 13,086 and Covishield 1,97,076 doses) vaccine doses have been given to the people in Dhubri district.

"We have received 31,700 vaccines today. We are allocating them as per demands to 50 vaccination centres in the district. Hopefully, we can achieve the target," Bhattacharyya said.

Also Read: COVID Vaccination Drive: Will Achieve Target in 45 Days, Says Health Minister Keshab Mahanta