Covid jab: ASHA, Anganwadi workers leading the way in Telangana

So far, 83% ASHA workers and 74% Anganwadi teachers/workers have received Covid vaccine

Hyderabad: Despite the hesitation surrounding Covid vaccines, the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers have led from the front in getting themselves inoculated in large numbers with Covid vaccines across Telangana.

In fact, the ASHA and Anganwadi workers formed the two largest groups of healthcare workers in the State who were amongst the first to volunteer and get themselves inoculated with Covid vaccines.

The third category of healthcare workers who formed a large chunk of Covid vaccine beneficiaries were paramedical staff across all the government hospitals followed by Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) and doctors.

“We must be proud of our field level healthcare workers in Telangana who have always led from the front in the fight against Covid. The focus of the response to the pandemic across the country has now clearly shifted to improve vaccination and the frontline healthcare workers have set an example for others to emulate,” Director of Public Health (DPH), Dr G Srinivasa Rao, said.

The Covid vaccine drive in Telangana was launched on January 16 and has reached the last phase of administration of the first two doses of the vaccine to healthcare and front line workers, which is expected to conclude by February-end.

So far, 83 per cent of ASHA workers, 74 per cent of Anganwadi teachers/ workers and another 65 per cent of Anganwadi helpers, forming the three large groups of healthcare workers, have received the Covid vaccine in the State.

The total number of doctors in Telangana who were targeted for the vaccine was 11,290 out of which 7,458 have received the vaccine. The health authorities had aimed to inoculate all 2,085 medical students i.e. MBBS and PG students in government teaching hospitals. However, only 13 students came forward for getting inoculated, which also forms the lowest number of healthcare workers to be vaccinated.

Senior health officials said low representation of MBBS and PG students has been universal across all parts of the country, as they fall under a younger age group of 20 years to 30 years, making them better placed to fight Covid infections, when compared to other healthcare workers. The general pattern that has merged is that healthcare workers who tend to interact with Covid patients directly have come forward in large numbers to get vaccinated.

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