SHILLONG, Oct 27: Stumped by vaccine hesitancy, the State Health Department has urged the people to come forward for their second COVID-19 dose for better protection against the virus.
Health Minister James PK Sangma had expressed concern over 1.5-2 lakh people in Meghalaya failing to turn up for their second dose.
Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM), Ram Kumar cited a few reasons why some people are reluctant to take the second dose. “Some people are not aware of their due date while many are procrastinating,” he said.
Some caught fever after the first dose and are hesitant about going through the same process again. There are also people with medical issues and pregnancy, he added.
Officials said the department has so far called almost 1 lakh people whose second dose is overdue, asking them the reasons for avoiding the second jab. Contacting many has been a challenge as they had provided the wrong phone numbers.
According to the NHM portal, a total of 93,546 calls were made till October 25.
More than half (1,438) of the total of 2,946 calls made on October 25 were unreachable. Out of the 1,439 persons reached on Tuesday, 13 declined to take their second dose.