Daltonganj: A team from the district health department, which on Friday had gone to Kujrum village in Palamu Tiger Reserve for vaccinating the villagers, had to return without administering a single jab since the tribals refused to take the shot reportedly.
However, Latehar district data manager Ved Prakash, who is looking after the vaccination drive in rural areas, said that the team was late in reaching the village and as per protocol, they did not motivate the villagers to take the jab.
“Although it is true that the villagers were not keen on taking the jab, the health team did not encourage them to take the vaccine, as per protocol.
Instead they left the village in just 45 minutes when they should have stayed there longer,” Prakash said, adding, “The Latehar DC (Abu Imran) has been apprised of the situation and he is looking into it.” According to local sources, the health team was in a hurry and when they did not find anybody turning up for the vaccination drive, they gathered their things and returned to their camp in Bareysarn, located about 20km from Kujrum.
Sources claimed that out of the 90 households in Kujurm, the health workers did not approach any of them for a door-to-door awareness session regarding the vaccination drive.
The locals said that the team just reached there, sat under a tree on a mat and then packed up, whereas for vaccination, a health team has to persuade and motivate the beneficiaries for taking the jab.
Meanwhile, the DC read out a 125-word appeal in tribal dialect Kurukh to the villagers in Lalgari, where a vaccination fair was organised, urging the villagers to take the jab.
Later, as many as 20 beneficiaries took the jab at the fair, Latehar BDO Ganesh Rajak said.
Villagers ‘lack of interest’ drives vax team away
