New Delhi: A national survey of 22,000 people has found that 42 per cent of those currently eligible for the Covid-19 precaution or booster dose are unwilling to take the jab immediately. The vaccination drive for the precaution dose of the Covid vaccine started on 10 January for priority groups, including frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities.
The survey by social media community platform LocalCircles asked respondents: “Why have you or members of your family not taken the booster dose of Covid vaccine yet?”
To this, 29 per cent of the respondents said they were waiting for daily cases to reduce to take the dose. Another 29 per cent said they would take the booster shot later as they had got infected with Covid-19.
As many as 28 per cent said they were awaiting data to show how effective it was to take the precautionary vaccine. Six per cent showed vaccine hesitancy, saying Covid-19 vaccination wasn’t helpful and they don’t plan to take any shot at all — not even the first two. Another 8 per cent said they don’t plan to take the third or booster dose, again because they claimed that vaccination isn’t helpful.
The demand for the booster dose has been low so far. As of 3 February, 1.25 crore precaution doses had been administered.
Covid cases registered a fall on 5 February, with 14 per cent fewer Covid cases reported in the 24 hours preceding Saturday than the previous day.
According to a report in The Indian Express, 5 February saw a single-day rise of 1,27,952 new cases, while 4 February saw 1,49,394 new infections. The daily positivity rate for 5 February was 7.98 per cent, down from 9.27 per cent on 4 February.
(Edited by Manoj Ramachandran)
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