Another Sunday without vaccination in Silchar; “20,000 doses sent to Cachar for next 4 days,” Director

For the working class, it is Sunday that they long for to take time out for personal work. One of the essential personal tasks these days is getting vaccinated. People of Silchar don’t have that opportunity this Sunday as they didn’t have it for most of the Sundays this month. Yesterday, the department of health informed that there won’t be any vaccination in Silchar. “There might be vaccination in Silchar on Monday but that isn’t confirmed either,” added the press statement.

On the first Sunday of July, there wasn’t any vaccination in Silchar. On July 24, the district administration informed that there is no stock available so, there won’t be any jabs either. After that similar press releases were issued more than 10 times. The vaccination was shut for multiple days and on some days, only one school in Silchar had the doses available. Cachar’s overall performance is abysmal and the district’s authority always blamed the shortage of stocks.

Munindra Nath Ngatey, Director of Health Services (Family Welfare) informed that the government has sent 10,000 doses to the Cachar district on July 24, and today, another 10,000 doses have been sent. “Our instructions to the district immunisation officer is to ensure that 20,000 doses are inoculated in the next four days,” said Munindra Nath Ngatey while speaking with Barak Bulletin.

So, with 10,000 doses in hand, why there isn’t any vaccination in Silchar today? “We only got the vaccines in the morning,” says Dr. Rima Patwa, in charge of vaccination in Urban areas of Cachar. “Moreover, today being a Sunday, the staff refused to report at work. Tomorrow, we will have the vaccination in Silchar,” she added.

Dr. Sumona Naiding who was the district’s immunisation officer from the very beginning is on sick leave. The charges has been handed over to Dr. Arun Debnath. “We will plan for the days ahead and hopefully, we will have rigorous vaccination in the district,” says Dr. Debnath.

Cachar is miles behind other districts with similar or lower populations. A total of 4,58,098 doses have been inoculated in the entire district and only 72,996 beneficiaries have got fully vaccinated. Whereas in Kamrup Metropolitan, 11,03,047 doses have been inoculated and 2,05,948 beneficiaries have got both doses. Cachar is behind Nagaon (5,36,923 doses) Kamrup Rural (4,94,300 doses), Dibrugarh (5,14,715). And in terms of daily doses, Cachar trains neighbouring Karimganj and Hailakandi too.

Is it because of lack of workforce? “Not really,” says Dr. Arun Debnath. “It all depends on the supply of doses,” he adds. Not to forget, Cachar holds the record of inoculating second highest number of doses in a day. So, if doses are available, Cachar can intensify the drive. However, the staff has got fatigued and are resisting working on Sundays. Better scheduling might help in rejuvenation of the workforce, “We will plan it accordingly,” says Debnath.

Munindra Nath Ngatey, Director of Health Services (Family Welfare) informed that along with 20,000 doses of Covishield vaccine, a few Covaxin jabs have been sent as some are awaiting the second dose.

With a target set of 20,000 for four days, how Cachar ramps up the vaccination drive, remains to be seen. “We will have a balanced distribution in urban and rural areas of Cachar,” said Dr. Arun Debnath who is expecting more doses from the state.