Thane district has most population in State with 10.99L not vaccinated against Covid at all

Around 1.17 lakh people in the rural areas of Thane district are due for their second dose. This means merely 35.73% have taken both the doses in rural parts of the district.

Though the Zilla Parishad has taken various efforts, the number of individuals taking the second dose of vaccine continues to be lower in the rural areas.

“The response to vaccination here was slow and delayed as initially there was a shortage of vaccine. Still, there are very few who willingly approach for the second dose. Now that the Covid cases have gone down drastically in rural areas, we have to again convince villagers to take the second shot of vaccine,” said Anjali Chaudhari, vaccination officer, Thane district.

According to the data released by the State Health Department recently, Thane district, overall, has vaccinated 85.49% with the first dose and 66.30% with the second dose. However, the district continues to have around 10.99 lakh people who have not been vaccinated at all. While a spike in the daily vaccination has been noted across Thane district since the last two months, it has not been able to reach out to certain pockets.

Within urban areas of the district, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has completed the second dose vaccination of 54.90%, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has fully vaccinated 93.37% and Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation has 68.43% who are fully vaccinated. Overall in the State, Thane district has the most unvaccinated population.

Thane district’s rural areas comprise five talukas – Ambernath, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Shahapur and Murbad. There are around 431 villages in these talukas and most of them are in Bhiwandi.

In rural areas, from the target population of 15 lakh, till now 14 lakh doses have been administered including the first and second vaccines. Till now, around 9 lakh have received the first dose and 5.37 lakh, the second dose in the rural areas.

“Time and again, various efforts are being taken to ensure that more people are vaccinated. While we assumed that after the first shot many shall willingly step forward for the second dose, reluctance continues in people’s minds. We are, hence, making special provisions all over again and trying our best to reach out to villagers who are sceptical about getting vaccinated,” said Dr Manish Renge, health officer, Zilla Parishad.

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