Vaccination of 60-plus population sluggish after initial high

New Delhi, Jun 26 (PTI): The pace of vaccination of the 60-plus population has become sluggish in the past few weeks after an initial high, with healthcare experts attributing it to mobility issues and misinformation and unsubstantiated apprehensions about the jabs.
According to Health Ministry data, 2.29 crore elderly people have been fully vaccinated so far while 6.71 crore have received just one dose of COVID-19 vaccine till now.
The 60-plus population in India was projected to be at 14.3 crore in 2021, so that would imply that just 16 per cent of them have been fully vaccinated till now. Vaccination for those over 60 years of age and those of 45-plus with co-morbidities started from March 1 at both government and private centres.
On an average about 80.77 lakh vaccine doses were given to the 60-plus population per week between March 13 and April 2, but the weekly figure dropped to about 32 lakh between June 5 to 25, according to the data.
Healthcare experts expressed concern over the slow place of vaccination of the 60-plus people who are more prone to have co-morbidities and remain more susceptible to severe disease.
Dr Sujeet Ranjan, Executive Director of The Coalition for Food and Nutrition Security (CFNS), said myths, misconceptions and rumours about COVID-19 vaccines are the biggest hurdle to vaccination coverage.