Concern over booster dose hesitancy in Assam

GUWAHATI: The health department has expressed concern over the reluctance by healthcare and frontline workers in the state to take the precautionary booster dose against Covid-19 despite becoming eligible for the third shot.
Healthcare and frontline workers and those aged 60 or above with comorbidities are eligible for the precaution dose. Many who skipped the precaution dose, include doctors and health staff who remain most vulnerable to the Omicron variant that has already spread in various districts.
However, many healthcare workers feel that the booster dose is not efficient enough to prevent a highly infectious variant like the Omicron.Moreover, hundreds of healthcare workers have contracted the virus in the last few days, and hence are not eligible to get vaccinated with the third dose at present.
Data from the state vaccination office revealed that about 2.87 lakh beneficiaries have completed nine months from the date of administration of the second shot and hence, are eligible for the booster dose.
“Despite repeated reminders and publicity, few people in the districts are coming forward to get the booster dose. The number of such beneficiaries are increasing day by day,” state nodal officer for Covid-19 vaccination, Munindra Nath Ngatey, told TOI on Saturday.
He said about 3,000 Covid vaccination centres are operational for the past few days and these have ample capacity to accelerate the administration of the booster dose.
Only around 10,000-15,000 people are coming forward to get inoculated with the booster dose daily on an average, though the health department has made arrangements to vaccinate at least 1 lakh such beneficiaries every day. For instance, from Saturday morning till afternoon 76,414 vaccine doses were administered, which was far below the daily capacity of around 1.5 lakh doses. Around 1.06 lakh have taken the booster dose in the state till Saturday afternoon, after the drive was launched on January 10.
Even though many health experts are uncertain about the exact efficacy of the vaccine, almost all hospital administrations have unanimously accepted that vaccination has reduced severity of the disease among a significant population hospitalized in the third wave, including in the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.
Dr Gayatri Gogoi, an assistant professor in Assam Medical College and noted researcher, who has not taken the booster dose yet, said, “Anyway, healthcare workers dealing with Covid patients remain highly vulnerable to infection and could get infected even after getting the booster dose. ICMR experts said the booster dose is not going to prevent the infection. Among the people who don’t have comorbidities, Omicron may trigger only a mild infection.”
Ngatey said since the booster dose has to be administered on a voluntary basis, they cannot force anyone to get vaccinated for a third time. “The healthcare and frontline workers who have mostly become eligible to get the booster dose are well aware of the need to get vaccinated. They should show urgency in getting the booster shot,” he said.
Around 2.17 lakh healthcare workers in Assam have got the first jab and about 2 lakh have taken the second shot. So far, around 31,255 healthcare workers have got the booster shot. Out of the 4.40 lakh frontline workers in the state, the second dose has been administered to around 4.12 lakh. However, only around 46,648 frontline workers have taken the booster dose in the last 11 days.