H1N1 vaccine: two dizzy after,many shaky before

In the BMC,neither Dr Daksha Shah nor the deans of the four main civic hospitals have volunteered for the vaccine. Dr M Shah,deputy dean of BYL Nair Hospital,said he saw “no reason to take the vaccine”. “If there are reports of side effects,why should I take the risk? I’ll protect myself in other ways,but why should I inject myself with a foreign body?” Dr Daksha Shah said she was “planning to take the vaccine soon.”

Nearly a month-and-a-half after the BMC started a drive for doctors and paramedics working in H1N1 wards,only 50 have voluntarily taken the vaccine. The Indian version has found no takers in the two weeks since its launch. Dr Umesh Aigal,dean of Kasturba Hospital,said only six medical workers from the city’s nodal swine flu centre have volunteered so far,and only one of them is a doctor.

Fear of side effects is being blamed. “People also feel they have already been exposed to the virus,so they are immune,” said Dr Mangala Gomare,BMC immunisation officer.

Dr Pradeep Awate,head of the state’s H1N1 control room,said,“More than 450 doses have been taken in Pune,with no incidents of side effects.”

No awareness programme has been planned to allay worries. If the response had been better,“we would have worked towards such initiatives,” said Dr V M Kulkarni,assistant director,state health services.