Vaccination drive week 1: Gurgaon meets 71% of target

In the one week since Covid-19 vaccination began in Gurgaon, over 13,000 healthcare workers have been inoculated in the

district, of whom 26 have reported Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI). The district has achieved 71.52% of its target coverage in the duration.

As per data shared by the health department, a total of 13,823 people have been vaccinated so far, against the target of 19,327. Of these, 12,307 have been administered Covishield, and 616 Covaxin. All the AEFI reported so far have been among beneficiaries of Covishield.

Data from the five days on which vaccination has been conducted shows the district met its target on only the first day, when 608 people were vaccinated. On the remaining days, the coverage has varied, with Gurgaon achieving 59.57% and 79.06% of its target on day 2 and day 3, and peaking at 91.06% on day 4. On day 5 on Saturday, coverage fell to 58.41%.

Officials from the health department, speaking to The Indian Express, attributed it partly to technical glitches in the portal.

“There is no major reluctance in Gurgaon to get the vaccine. Some amount is always there, but we are trying to motivate people. I myself have taken the shot… With time, we expect people will come forward once they gain confidence… The AEFI reported so far have also been minor — slight pain and fever are normal side effects of every vaccine,” said Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Virender Yadav.

“Certain things have come to our knowledge, such as duplicate entries in the portal, which are causing confusion. We have alerted the state to this,” he said.

The Office of the Civil Surgeon Saturday issued a statement regarding the death of a healthcare worker who had been administered the Covishield vaccine on day 1 of immunisation. The woman, Rajwanti (56), was a resident of Krishna Colony and a permanent employee (LHV) of the health department, said officials.

In its statement, the health department maintained that the woman was “normal till the night of January 22”, with “no untoward event” being reported during her observation period on the day of vaccination — January 16 — or until Friday. She had attended work until Thursday but was found “unresponsive” by her family on Friday morning. She was rushed to Medanta Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival.

“… A post-mortem has been conducted to ascertain the cause of her sudden demise. Viscera has been sent for histopathology and a report is awaited,” read the statement, adding that “no other healthcare worker who took the vaccine from the same vial had reported any adverse events”.

“The interim conclusion is that the death… was due to sudden cardiac death,” it stated.