Mohali sees 488% rise in Covid cases in 6 days

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Mohali, January 7

Despite aggressive awareness campaign launched by the Health Department, only 72 per cent of the eligible beneficiaries have been fully vaccinated in Mohali district so far.

As per the data provided by the Health Department, out of a total of 7,46,119 eligible beneficiaries, about 2.05 lakh people did not take their second dose of the Covid vaccine.

The maximum defaulters, around 1 lakh, are from Mohali (Urban), followed by 58,000 from Dera Bassi and 47,000 from Kharar.

The district logged 214 Covid cases and two deaths in December last year. It, however, witnessed 1,226 cases in the first week of January, showing an increase of 488 per cent.

People are hesitant to get the second dose of the Covid vaccine despite the fact that the district witnessed a sudden surge in the Covid-19 cases in the past one week. The new Covid variant, Omicron, is spreading fast across the globe.

As per the record, there are a total of 7,46,119 eligible beneficiaries in Mohali as per the population growth estimates added by the Health Department to the Census 2011 data. Out of this, 2.05 lakh people have missed their second dose of the vaccine. The maximum defaulters are from Mohali (Urban), around 1 lakh people, followed by 58,000 from Dera Bassi and 47,000 from Kharar. With the vaccination drive beginning in March last year, 100 per cent eligible beneficiaries in the district got their first dose.

The department has been carrying out aggressive campaign since October last year to create awareness among the masses through newspapers, radio and announcements from religious places to motivate people to come forward for the second dose of the vaccine. The department has now even extended the timings of the vaccination centre at the Civil Hospital, Phase 6, by four hours, but it failed to convince people.

District Immunisation Officer Dr Girish Dogra said after a sudden rise in cases in the past one week, people had now started coming forward for the second dose of the vaccine. Till date, 72 per cent of the eligible people had been fully vaccinated. They had even started ‘har ghar dastak’ campaign in the district.

Silver lining

Though there are 1,274 active cases in the district, only six patients are admitted to hospitals. Out of these six patients, only one is admitted to the Level-3 ward and the remaining are in Level-2 wards.

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