Search for the elusive shot

Lakhs of people running around health centres for second dose of vaccine

The spike in the COVID-19 cases at a daily average of 2,500 since April last week in Chittoor district, which has seen over 1,000 casualties since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year, has led to a rush for vaccination, particularly in the mandals bordering with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This shows a vast change in the threat perception of public, since there were no takers for the vaccine from January till the third week of March. Of the 44.45 lakh population of the district as per the Aadhar data of 2019, including those aged below 18, the district administration could give the first dose of vaccine to 6.70 lakh and the second dose to 1.57 lakh of them (May 6), say officials. Now, over 5 lakh people are daily going round the health centres frantically searching for their second dose.