PCMC to start door-to-door vaccination in slum

Khandevasti, an area with a population of around 3,000, is one of the four big slum clusters in Salve’s ward where vaccination penetration has been low. Thus in Khandevasti, just about 750 people have got their shots with Salve admitting of extreme vaccine hesitancy in this area.

Doctors and vaccination staff of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) are going to embark on an ambitious scheme of door-to-door vaccination program in the Khandevasti slum from Monday. Former chairman of the standing committee and senior corporator Seema Salve said this pilot program is aimed to remove vaccine hesitancy and increase the vaccination percentage in slum areas.

Khandevasti, an area with a population of around 3,000, is one of the four big slum clusters in Salve’s ward where vaccination penetration has been low. Thus in Khandevasti, just about 750 people have got their shots with Salve admitting of extreme vaccine hesitancy in this area.

“Unfortunately in the slums where people are hard-pressed, vaccine hesitancy is high. Rumours of people dying because of the vaccine prevents many from approaching the vaccination centers,” she said. This situation, she said stems from people preferring to believe in local myths and godmen rather than doctors or staff of the civic body.

Since the vaccination drive started, Salve and other members of the civic body have been trying to convince the local residents to come for vaccination but their success has been limited. “It’s not just the question of Covid-19 vaccines, we have observed the same scenario in case of other medical conditions. For example, pregnant women wait till the end moment till they go for their delivery. The ongoing pandemic has increased the challenge,” Salve added.

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Most residents of these areas, she said, are highly mobile being daily wage earners and the chances of them picking up the virus and spreading it to others are extremely high. Salve said she had gone to the slums repeatedly to assuage the fears of the residents after she had taken the vaccine but the response was lukewarm at best.

With talks of the third wave gaining ground, Salve said the special program would see the civic body literally camping in the slums and going door-to-door to inoculate people. ”We feel some sort of positive pressure tactic has to be used to push people for vaccination. Thus we would try to take the list of people who are refusing to take the vaccine and share the same with their workplace, the ration shop owner. In case of autorickshaw drivers, we would share the list with the Regional Transport Office,”  she said. Vaccination, she pointed out, was the only safe method to cut down death and serious cases.

Dr Shailaja Bhavsar, senior medical officer of PCMC and incharge of Bhosari, said they would have a makeshift pandal at Khandevasti from morning where people would be inoculated. “We plan to vaccinate at least 300 people on the first day and if we get enough vials, will increase the same to 500. This is a pilot run of the program and would be scaled up in other areas of the corporation,” she added.

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