New Delhi: In a great boost for vaccination programs, more than 2.3 lakh pregnant women have received the first dose of anti-covid jabs in less than a month since vaccination against infection is permitted for them, the government said.
Tamil Nadu has included a large number of pregnant women so far with 78,838 doses given, followed by Andhra Pradesh (34,228), Odisha (29,821), Madhya Pradesh (21,842), Kerala (16,673) and Karnataka (16,673).
It assumes significance, because pregnant women are among high-risk populations as an opportunity to develop severe diseases due to Covid-19 infection which leads to premature labor and complications in mothers and children, height.
Substantial vaccination coverage of Covid-19 among pregnant women in a short time span was driven by regular pregnant women counseling by health workers and medical officers about the risk of Covid-19 infection against pregnant women and vaccination benefits, the government said.
Some initiatives have been taken by countries to encourage pregnant women to take vaccines, such as counseling beneficiaries who meet the requirements by frontline workers and counselors in antenatal clinics, mobilization by Ashas, ​​among others.